Genevieve O’Reilly’s best non-Star Wars roles
We’ve all come to know and love Genevieve O’Reilly as the revered Mon Mothma, and can’t wait for her and the character’s return to the galaxy in Andor. But there was a reason she was cast in Revenge of the Sith in the first place and a large body of work both before and after her time with the character.
So, ahead of Andor, let’s take a look at some of Genevieve O’Reilly’s best non-Star Wars roles.
Before Star Wars
After graduating from Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Art in 2000, O’Reilly got much of her start in acting in theatre. She quickly built a number of on-stage credits working with popular Australian theatre director, Gale Edwards. Then, it was only a natural transition to move into film as productions made their way to Australia, where the Irish-Born actress was raised.
Perhaps as an early sign of what was to come, O’Reilly’s first film credits came in the science fiction realm. She received the leading role in 2004’s Avatar — not the James Cameron version, but a Singaporean film — as Dash Mackenzie, who just so happened to be a bounty hunter.
The film did not have the most glowing reviews, but it gave way for O’Reilly to act in a much larger sci-fi franchise, The Matrix. She played Officer Fritz in both of the franchise’s sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions.
Then, O’Reilly made her debut as Mon Mothma in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith.
Thriving in television and theatre
Perhaps surprisingly, those roles actually comprise much of O’Reilly’s initial film work. She strayed from that type of acting for the most part of a decade, barring a pair of British dramas. Instead, she found a much bigger footing on British television, and in her roots, theatre.
Her extensive television career stems all the way back to 2001 with a guest appearance on the Canadian television series, Beastmaster, and now extends two decades forward to Andor.
That brief appearance aside, O’Reilly received her first more prominent role as Leanne Curtis on All Saints, an Australian medical drama which ran from 2002-2005. A smattering of cameos followed throughout the decade, headlined by a recurring role in the long-running spy drama, Spooks.
Miniseries have become very popular as of late, especially in Britain where O’Reilly has spent much of her career. She earned leading roles in the mid-2010s shows, The Honourable Woman and Banished. Arguably her most successful role came as Hazel Buchanan in the BAFTA-nominated 2016 miniseries, The Secret, which received widespread critical acclaim. The same is true of The Glitch, an award-winning paranormal drama that brought O’Reilly home to Australia for a main role from 2015 to 2019.
O’Reilly never lost her love for theatre, either. She played a key role in Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman. Directed by Sam Mendes, the performance won numerous awards, including becoming the fasting-selling play ever at the Royal Court Theatre. After leaving amid a casting change, O’Reilly returned for the show’s move to Broadway, where it added four Tony Awards.
Recent big screen resurgence
Because of all those roles, as hinted at earlier, O’Reilly had a bit of a blockbuster break from 2010 to 2015, with no film roles during the time. Her comeback in 2015’s Survivor, a British-American spy thriller, marked a run of more significant roles to come.
O’Reilly played Alice Clayton in The Legend of Tarzan, a 2016 reimagining of the iconic fictional character. Later that year came her reappearance as Mon Mothma in Rogue One, and in 2017, voiceover work for the character in Star Wars: Rebels. O’Reilly must have enjoyed the animated world as she lent her voice to the hero Moira in Overwatch, who entered the game that same year.
Three years later, O’Reilly appeared in Tolkien, the biographical film on the iconic Lord of the Rings creator, now more timely than ever.
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All of that brings us to the present day and her next role in Andor. With such a diverse background in theatre, film and television, Disney+, and specifically this show, seem like the perfect medium to combine all three. And we can’t wait to see where O’Reilly will turn next.