Lucy Lawless Says She Lost ‘Star Wars’ Gig After ‘Mandalorian’ Fan Campaign to Replace Gina Carano

After Gina Carano got fired by Lucasfilm, an abundance of “The Mandalorian” fans on social media immediately started championing Lucy Lawless to take over the role of Cara Dune. Lawless is an action icon thanks to her role as the title character on “Xena: Warrior Princess.” Carano played Cara Dune on the first two seasons of the Disney+ Emmy winner, but she was let go after a series of social media controversies, from mocking transgender pronouns to comparing the U.S. political divide to Nazi Germany. Lawless revealed to Metro that she was actually circling a different “Star Wars”-adjacent role at the time of Carano’s firing, and she said the fans urging for her “Mandalorian” casting might’ve cost her a trip to a galaxy far, far away.

“Well to be honest with you, I was already in discussions about something on — it wasn’t ‘The Mandalorian’ — something Star Wars-affiliated,’ Lawless said. “[The fan campaign] might have hurt me in some way, because then [Lucasfilm] 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?”

Lawless felt that her name “became political” because the fan casting got intertwined with Carano’s politically charged exit from the “Star Wars” series. And yet, Lawless has no hard feelings about losing out on a potential “Star Wars” project.

“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,” the actress said. “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 already has “Star Wars” experience on the animation front, as she had a voice role on two episodes of “Star Wars Resistance.” As for “The Mandalorian,” the show’s creators have said Cara Dune won’t be replaced by a different actress but will be simply phased out of the series. The third season of the hit show won’t arrive until next year.

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