Star Wars Based A Character On Nancy Pelosi
Mon Mothma from Andor is based on real-life politician Nancy Pelosi.
It is quite known that many of the elements of Star Wars are pulled from historical happenings in the world. Also, there are certain characters that are often based on real-life people, though we are positive there are no real-life Wookies walking around. Still, it was recently revealed that Mon Mothma was based on Nancy Pelosi.
For those who might not remember Mon Mothma, she was introduced to the Star Wars world back in Return of the Jedi. Though she has not been seen on screen since then, a younger version of her was introduced in the newest episode of Andor. Tony Gilroy, showrunner for Andor, revealed the inspiration for Mothma came from Nancy Pelosi.
According to Gilroy, “Anyone who follows the canon — she’s sort of a Nancy Pelosi character, isn’t she? She’s kind of trying to do good or whatever she’s trying to do, and she’s losing — I mean, I don’t know. She a powerful presence in the Senate but she’s facing defeat after defeat after defeat as the Empire is taking over here.”
While the comparison of Nancy Pelosi and Mon Mothma might not be purely evident to some people, Pelosi is a Democrat and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, and she is often battling it out with the Senate, which is controlled by the Republican party. We don’t want to say that Gilroy is comparing the Republican party to the Empire, but he could be hinting at that comparison.
Star Wars is often political in nature, as the Empire was built by disguising itself as the Republic, with the people’s rights always at the forefront of its campaigning. But really, we know that Palpatine rises to power through the Republic to find and eradicate the world of the Jedi. Mon Mothma runs the Rebel resistance in Return of the Jedi, and she is shown in her earlier years doing that same thing in Andor, much like Nancy Pelosi is currently doing in the United States.
Andor showcases the life of Cassian Andor, and how he gets involved with the Rebel resistance heading into the events of Rogue One. The goal of the resistance is to steal the plans of the Death Star, so that it may be destroyed. One of the best aspects of these new Star Wars shows is breathing life into older stories and showing us a new side of what happened in the long-standing timelines, and now we get to see the younger Mon Mothma as her Nancy Pelosi-based self.
So far, the only returning character from Rogue One is Saw Gerrera, who is portrayed by Forrest Whittaker. He was part of the trailers, though we are not sure when he is going to appear in the series. We are also hoping to see K2S0 return, but that might not happen, but at least we still get the Nancy Pelosi-inspired Mon Mothma.
Andor is currently streaming on Disney+, which new episodes dropping every Wednesday. The entire season is going to showcase Andor and his journey as a spy for the Resistance, which leads up to the moments of Rogue One. Andor is portrayed by Diego Luna, and he is joined by Stellan Skarsgård (Luthen Rael), Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma aka Nancy Pelosi), Alex Ferns (Sgt. Kostek), and many more.
