A Star Wars actor who played a part in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was approached to reprise the role in the Disney+ series Andor. However, the actor turned down the opportunity because he found one particular request from the production team too ridiculous. Star Wars has a long history of actors turning down roles for one reason or another. Famous movie stars like Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Gary Oldman have all declined Star Wars roles when something didn't sit quite right with them.
Star Wars actor Jordan Stephens, in an interview with Zeteo UK, revealed that he refused to reprise his role as Corporal Tonc in Andor because the series' production team asked him to cut his dreadlocks, a request he found ludicrous. Stephens, best known as one half of the British rap duo Rizzle Kicks, played the Rebel soldier in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, widely considered one of the best Star Wars entries of the Disney era.
The actor and musician told host Shehab Khan that the production team said his character wearing dreadlocks in the movie wasn't "realistic," a framing he found absurd:
"In Rogue One, I'm wearing a helmet the whole time. So I was like, yeah I've got locks but who cares, just put me in a helmet [again]. Well, we're going to shoot scenes of the army training. We're going to be training so we're going to need you in traditional army attire, including your hair. And if you have locks, I don't think it'd be realistic."
He went on to describe Star Wars as a franchise about an "intergalactic space war with giant slugs and swords made of light," which made it harder for him to wrap his head around the mandate:
"I was like, you're talking about an intergalactic space war with giant slugs and swords made of light, and you're worried about a soldier having dreadlocks? On principal... the cognitive dissonance was too difficult to handle. The idea that someone would watch and say 'oh, well he's got dreadlocks so it's obviously not real'... what is going on? It's absolutely insane."
This isn't the first time Stephens has touched on the topic. He previously told the story in a TikTok video back in February 2025, where he bemoaned the idea of losing six years of hair growth for a single scene. (As of the new interview, it's seven.) He recalled that a week before the shoot, the team asked for a photo of him, then asked him to cut the dreadlocks off. In the new interview, he added that the remuneration for the role wasn't much either, telling Khan the offer came with "f*ck all" money, which made the decision that much easier.
Stephens' role in Rogue One was small but memorable. For those who can't quite make out his face from the film, since it's hidden under a Rebel helmet for most of it, Corporal Stordan Tonc served in the Rebel Alliance and volunteered for the desperate mission to steal the Death Star plans. He fought on the beaches of Scarif alongside Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor, and like the rest of the Rogue One strike team, he never made it off the planet.
Was Star Wars Asking Stephens to Cut His Dreadlocks a Reasonable Request?
The reveal that Jordan Stephens was asked to cut his dreadlocks for his return in Andor surprised fans, with most split down the middle. Some have argued that the production's insistence that Stephens cut his dreadlocks to keep his character's appearance realistic doesn't quite match up with the fantastical nature of Star Wars storytelling.
Historically, the franchise has featured prominent characters with similar aesthetics, most notably Jedi Master Quinlan Vos in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, whose dreadlocks never shattered anyone's immersion. While fans who side with the production have argued that a military demands uniformity, this reasoning doesn't exactly apply to the Rebel Alliance, especially during the timeline of Andor.
At this early stage of the insurrection, the Rebellion was not a centralized, organized military. Rather, it was a disconnected network of ragtag partisan cells and localized guerrilla fighters. Demanding rigid, clean-cut grooming standards for an underground resistance cell is inconsistent, particularly when characters like Cassian Andor are permitted to sport long, unkempt hair and prominent facial hair. In hindsight, Stephens' helmet compromise would have been the perfect middle ground.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
