The original Bail Organa

So Jimmy Smits wasn't George's first choice for Bail Organa. Adrian Dunbar was cast in the role for the Phantom Menace, and would have a fairly small speaking role in the senate scene where Palpatine's rise to power is pretty much ensured. Reportedly Dunbar was willing to commit to the two other films but Lucas decided to cut and recast the role with the next film.


There does exist several photos of the scene. One of Bail's aides also has a Leia-style dress and haircut to boot.

In the EU and most reference books, the photos of the character are usually said to refer to Bail Antilles, the Chancellor nominee who Panaka mentions. In the "Holonet news" website Lucasfilm made to hype up AOTC (mainly talking about the Seperatist crisis) there's also some artwork of both the Bails together, doing some diplomatic stuff.

Dunbar of course is well known in Britain for his role in "Line of Duty", kind of curious how his version of Organa would've worked.

My understanding was that "Bail Antilles" was supposed to be "Bail Organa," but when the name was accidentally changed, they just went with it and created a new character.