Genevieve O’Reilly could have easily lost her chance to truly bring Mon Mothma to life. In the final cut of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, you can briefly see her in the background when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker make their destructive return to Coruscant. She does not appear again and has no lines. The only proof she was meant to play a bigger role originally are the movie's deleted scenes, in which O'Reilly -- as Mothma -- shines brilliantly, even if only briefly.
But the actor never really let the character go. In 2016, she seamlessly slipped back into the role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, then voiced Mothma again in 2017 in Star Wars Rebels. Her prominent role in the first season of Andor finally allowed her to make the character her own, and this has become even more obvious in the show's second and final season.
Fans knew that this season would chronicle Mothma's detachment from the Imperial Senate and her full embrace of her role in the Rebel Alliance. But the speech she gave in the most recent episode of the show far exceeded our collective expectations.
O'Reilly -- though she had to work to get the speech just right -- has always known her character would be ready for this moment. It's the moment her entire life shifts -- instead of moving through the shadows to build up a fierce rebellion against the Galactic Empire, she has now made her allegiance to the Alliance public. Endangering herself and everyone she knows, but also setting in motion the events that those familiar with the story already know are coming. A pivotal moment on the Senate floor, regardless of the risk.
“That’s the fulcrum of who the woman is," she told The Los Angeles Times. "A woman who was always ready to set fire to her life. To step out of the shadows and to risk it all on behalf of others, to stand up and use her voice against oppression... Her only weapon is her voice.”
Mon Mothma is not a fighter in the traditional sense -- not a Saw Gerrera unafraid of blaster fire or a Cassian Andor willing to accept violence in exchange for victory. She is a politician, in her case a master at crafting arguments that convince the minds of thousands to listen, to agree or compromise or take action.
It was always going to be her. And she was always going to, eventually, win the battles she chose in favor of peace.