Lucy Lawless’ surprising reaction to fans wanting her to replace Gina Carano in The Mandalorian

Back in February of this year, it was announced that Gina Carano would not return as Cara Dune in the third season of The Mandalorian on Disney+. The actress was let go after what Lucasfilm called “abhorrent” and “unacceptable” social media behavior by Carano.

Though there appear to be no plans to recast Carano’s role as Cara Dune on the show, many fans have called for a well-known television star to replace her moving forward.

Lucy Lawless, best known as Xena in the Xena: Warrior Princess television series, has been a very popular choice among fans to take over as Cara Dune. And for the first time since Carano’s firing, Lawless has commented on those fans calling for her to join The Mandalorian.

Is Lucy Lawless joining in The Mandalorian?

Right now, we have no evidence that the actress will be joining The Mandalorian, and in an interview with Metro.co.uk, Lawless explained that the outcry from fans actually may have hurt her chances at landing that role — or any role with Star Wars, actually.

“Well to be honest with you, I was already in discussions about something on – it wasn’t The Mandalorian – something Star Wars-affiliated,” Lawless stated. “It might have hurt me in some way, because then they couldn’t hire me because it would seem to be pandering to… I’m just guessing here, I don’t know anything, but in some ways, it can be unhelpful, because if they pander to this fan group, then how are you going to pander to every other fan group, do you know what I mean?”

Many decried Carano’s firing as a “political” move on Disney’s part, and because of that, any potential recasting of Cara Dune would likely be looked at through that same political lens.

That, unfortunately, seemingly became a hindrance to any shot Lawless had at snagging the role. Hiring her would look like pandering to some Star Wars fans, and some would view it as a reactionary move to the firing of Carano, even though Lawless had no connection to any of the drama surrounding Carano and Disney. This hasn’t been confirmed by Disney, but we’re just speculating.

Lawless isn’t angry at fans for rallying around her as a replacement for Carano, though.

“I became political, and I had nothing to do with the discussion,” Lawless explained. “But that’s the way the world is, and they meant it out of love, and I thank the fans for their fealty to me. I haven’t thought about that since, so it hasn’t given me any pain, but that was my thought at the time, like, ooh, this makes me look like a political appointment, and not an actress.”

Lawless does have an acting credit in a Star Wars role, however. She voiced the Aeosian Queen in two episodes of Star Wars Resistance. She currently stars as Alexa Crowe in My Life is Murder and is also known for her roles as D’Anna Biers in Battlestar Galactica and Lucretia in Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

The Mandalorian season 3 does not have a release date at this time. The role of Cara Dune is up in the air, but it is not believed the character will be recast for the upcoming season.