Why did Arjun Avasarala's actor change in Chrisjen Avasarala, as played by Shohreh Aghdashloo. One of Earth's leading politicians, and later the secretary general of the UN, Chrisjen is bold, forthright and occasionally manipulative while pursuing peace in a solar system desperately working to tear itself apart. When she's not manipulating military leaders and exposing government corruption, Chrisjen is married to Arjun, played in the first two seasons of The Expanse by Brian George.
A ing figure on The Expanse (in both senses of the word), Arjun takes care of the couple's grandson while Chrisjen is off trying to save the Earth, and he also teaches as a professor of poetry. Arjun remains a faithful, loving companion to his wife and provides a moral com when necessary, tempering some of Chrisjen's more questionable strategies and reminding her of her priorities and values with his calm idealism. Arjun makes sporadic appearances in The Expanse season 1 and features briefly in season 2. By far Arjun's most significant TV story comes in season 4 when Chrisjen is standing for reelection, but the character was recast ahead of the show's Amazon debut. Michael Benyaer portrays Arjun in The Expanse season 4.
Some viewers might assume that Arjun's recasting had something to do with the character's increased presence in season 4, especially after being entirely absent in season 3. It's not unusual for TV shows and films to change actors when promoting a character from bit-part to a more prominent position, but the timing was entirely coincidental in Arjun's case. The Expanse writer The Expanse's cancellation at Syfy and their rescue at the hands of Amazon Prime. By the time the season 4 renewal was official, George was already unavailable. Brian George is a prolific TV and voice actor and has featured in a host of projects since last being seen in The Expanse, but there's a certain bitter irony that George would play Arjun Avasarala for two seasons, only to be unable to return for his character's biggest storyline yet.
Despite the casting change being completely outside of The Expanse's control, this was certainly no like-for-like substitution. Where Brian George's Arjun was portrayed as a soft and kindly grandparent figure, Michael Benyaer brought Arjun's stoicism to the fore, and even gave the character somewhat of a harder edge compared to the Arjun of season 1. When George played the character, Arjun had little interest in Chrisjen's political machinations outside of ing his wife and being her emotional rock. Arjun felt like her escape from the (often literally) cutthroat world of Sol system politics.
In season 4, however, Arjun directly involves himself in Chrisjen's campaign strategy, and tries to alter his wife's PR approach to ensure her victory, even though Chrisjen herself is clearly uncomfortable being so disingenuous. Whether intentional or otherwise, season 4 Arjun comes across as selfish at times, doggedly trying to convince his wife she needs to change. Because of this, the Arjun recast became a hot topic of debate among fans of The Expanse, not because one actor was replaced with another, but because Arjun evolved into a more politically-minded individual that encroached upon Chrisjen's world rather than being her escape.