Disney cut one major Ahsoka Season 2 star from Andor Season 1, according to star Joplin Sibtain. Andor ended its run on Disney+ in May 2025 with a perfect finale that led straight to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. While the series mainly focused on Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, the Star Wars prequel also highlighted a massive ensemble featuring major characters from both sides of the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, and one of them is Cassian's good friend, Brasso.
Andor Season 1 introduced Brasso as one of the citizens and a manual laborer from Ferrix. Joplin Sibtain brought the character to life in nine episodes of the Star Wars series across the first two seasons before meeting his end in Andor Season 2, Episode 3. While Sibtain portrayed Brasso brilliantly throughout his performance, the actor was not the original choice to play the Andor hero.
In the latest episode of the Star Wars Session podcast, Joplin Sibtain revealed that Ahsoka Season 2 actor Rory McCann (who replaced the late Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll in the Rosario Dawson-led series) was originally tapped to play Brasso in Andor, but he was replaced following a knee injury he suffered during the early days of shooting in Season 1.
Starting at the 13:04 mark, Sibtain confirmed that Andor "shot some of [McCann's] scenes," but those were cut and reshot with him after he suffered an injury:
Joplin Sibtain: "The guy playing Brasso, the guy playing Brasso played The Hound in 'Game of Thrones.'"
Star Wars Session: "Rory McCann? You’re joking. He was just cast in the new Star Wars [Ahsoka]."
Sibtain: This is the truth. He was originally tapped to play Brasso. He shot some of his scenes. He’s 6'6, and I’m 6'3. But he did his knee in. He was on his way to work, it was very icy at that time, and he slipped up and did his knee in. And he went to work, so he’s a bit of a hero. He just had a limp, and he went to work. They did a scan on it, and the consultant said, ‘If you don’t have this operated on, you’re not going to be able to walk.’ And so Tony Gilroy called me…”
McCann's surprise inclusion in Andor would've changed everything for the small screen future of Star Wars because if he continued playing Brasso, then the actor would've not been considered to replace the late Ray Stevenson in Ahsoka Season 2.
The striking resemblance between Sibtain and McCann makes both actors a fit for the role of Brasso in Andor, but sadly, the injury to McCann led to his eventual omission. Still, McCann eventually found his way back to the galaxy far, far away in Ahsoka.
Speaking with Comicbook in May 2025, McCann pointed out that he thinks that it's the "right decision" to carry on Stevenson's storyline as Baylan in Season 2, promising that he would do his best:
"I think it’s the right decision to carry on his storyline, not just cut it off. We’ve done it before with other things. I hope the fans embrace it and I’ll do my best. I’m just starting now, so I’m just trying to be in the right zone for doing it. It’s pretty bloody exciting. I mean, I remember being a kid with my dad, going to the first one probably in the late ’70s and ’80s. Now I’m training with a lightsaber at night, so it’s pretty exciting."
Created by Tony Gilroy, Andor follows the journey of rebel spy Cassian Andor in the years leading up to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Meanwhile, Ahsoka Season 2 has already wrapped filming, and it is expected to be released on Disney+ sometime in 2026.
Everything Aligned for Andor & Ahsoka Despite Casting Changes
Joplin Sibtain's performance as Brasso in Andor made him a fan-favorite character in the series, mainly because he was depicted in the most impactful way by turning a normal working man on Ferrix into a crucial part in the planet's uprising against the Empire.
The actor's presence was incredibly felt, and he portrayed Brasso in a way that fans believed an everyday citizen like him could rise and become an integral part of the Rebellion's eventual victory over the Empire. Sibtain captured Brasso's bravery, resilience, and immense loyalty over Andor (even though it led to the character's tragic death in Andor Season 2).
While the injury served as a minor setback for Rory McCann, fate still found a way for him to return to Star Wars, and he would do so by honoring his close friend, Ray Stevenson (with permission from Stevenson's widow), by doing justice to the role of Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka's eventual return on Disney+.
