BRUTE FORCE

STAR WARS ENTERS A NEW, UNCHARTED ERA WITH THE ACOLYTE, A MARTIAL ARTS-HEAVY SAGA THAT PROMISES TO EXPLORE GOOD, EVIL AND THE FIGHT SIDE OF THE FORCE. TOTAL FILM MEETS CREATOR LESLYE HEADLAND AND HER CAST TO FIND OUT WHY THIS TIME, IT’S UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL…

What is an acolyte? ‘In Sith lore, there’s an apprentice,’ says Leslye Headland. ‘And under the apprentice, there’s an acolyte. So it’s a job that someone needs to fill…’ Who is that someone in Lucasfilm’s new eight-episode show, which features familiar faces (Carrie-Anne Moss as a Jedi Master, Jodie Turner-Smith as a high-powered witch) but a ton of new characters? The smart money is on Mae (Amandla Stenberg) - a ‘dangerous warrior’ who has history with Jedi Master Sol (Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae). But as the trailer reminds us, appearances can deceive…

Described by creator/showrunner Headland (Russian Doll) as a ‘mystery’, Star Wars: The Acolyte is set in a previously unexplored time: 100-odd years pre-The Phantom Menace, at the tail end of the High Republic era (see overleaf). It’s a time of peace, but darkness is on the rise – and Headland is keen to explore the shadows: ‘What I was interested in asking here was, “How do the villains come to think that they’re right?”’

MARTIAL ARTISTRY

Leslye Headland [creator/showrunner/executive producer]: My original pitch for the show was a fully new story, one that wasn’t attached to a legacy character. This was back in 2019, so initially it wasn’t attached to the High Republic either, because that was just starting up. The story was a very personal one to me, told through the lens of Star Wars. And then I leaned into something George Lucas was inspired by: samurai and wuxia films. Because with The Mandalorian leaning into westerns - another influence on George - it felt like it would be fun to go in the other direction, into martial arts.

Films like Come Drink with Me [1966], A Touch of Zen [1971], even Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [2000], a lot of these are about family member versus family member, master versus apprentice. They involve smaller conflicts. And because I wanted The Acolyte to take place in a period that wasn’t going to mess with any legacy characters or canon, it felt like a good reference point would be martial-arts movies, where the ‘war’ is between two or three people fighting, as opposed to spaceships and a mega-weapon like the Death Star.

(IM)MORAL CHARACTERS

Lee Jung-jae [Master Sol]: The character I play is a Jedi Master, who’s a teacher to the Jedi younglings. And he’s someone who takes part in the investigation of a very mysterious crime…

Amandla Stenberg [Mae]: My character is someone who forces [Sol] to fix a lot of things about himself that he’s been avoiding.

LJ-j: Amandla’s character is very powerful, and their dynamic with Sol is very intriguing. I think viewers will have a great time waiting to see how their relationship will unfold, right up to the end.

AS: When we first meet [Mae] she has a lot of emotional progress to make, which makes her trajectory really interesting.

Dafne Keen [Jecki]: I play a Jedi Padawan, who’s very serene, very calm. She’s also a perfectionist and an overachiever. She has a kind of sibling relationship with Yord [Charlie Barnett], who’s a Jedi Knight. He’s older than her, but she’s kind of the grown-up. And they quarrel all the time.

Charlie Barnett [Yord]: The love is there, but we butt heads, for sure. We both have the same dreams and wishes for whatever situation we’re in, but their tactics of getting there are vastly different.

Rebecca Henderson [Vernestra Rwoh]: I don’t want to use the word ‘badass’, but Vernestra is such a badass.

She’s a revered Jedi Master. The series is set about 100 years on from when we’ve seen Vernestra [in other High Republic media], so she’s certainly an elder, who thinks she’s seen it all.

Manny Jacinto [Qimir]: Qimir is an everyday guy minding his own business. Leslye has described him as a former smuggler. He’s just doing his own thing and gets pulled into this whole storyline, whether he likes it or not. He’s trying to do his best, but has certain faults…

LH: I’ve always been interested in taking immoral or amoral characters and then slowly, over the course of the story, getting the audience to understand the humanity and vulnerability of those characters.

One of the key aspects of Star Wars is the individual or underdog versus the institution; and if that reigning institution is the Jedi, no matter how benevolent they are, there will be people who disagree with them. So, I was like, ‘Well, who are these people?’ George and Dave Filoni have already explored so much about the Jedi and how they tick, so I felt this was a new way in.

SETS AND VIOLENCE

LJ-j: The shooting environment was actually quite similar to [South Korean productions], but of course, it’s Star Wars. So the great scale of it was very interesting to witness. And throughout the filming process I was on the tip of my toes at all times. It was such a great experience.

RH: I did very little green-screen work, which was very helpful. The sets were huge, and mostly practically built. At one point we’re in a forest… and they built the forest.

MJ: It was a cold winter in the UK when we shot there…

‘WHAT I WAS INTERESTED IN ASKING WAS, “HOW DO THE VILLAINS COME TO THINK THEY’RE RIGHT?”’

LESLYE HEADLAND

If we do a second season, I’m going to ask Leslye that we do it over the summer!

LH: We used a lot of practical effects, a lot of puppets, a lot of wire work. And I have to say, a lot of the cast did their own action. We had an incredible stunt team, but the action the actors did was fantastic.

LJ-j: Because my character is teaching younglings, you had to be really well trained in martial arts. I had to pay particular attention to making sure that each action, the speed, everything had to be perfect.

AS: Leslye held a screening of Kill Bill for us when we first came to set, which was an amazing way of setting the tone. I spent about seven weeks doing stunt and fight training, and I realised that there’s such a big difference between choreography and actual martial arts, in that the [filmed] movements are larger and more performative so that they can be read by the camera. I was at a Muay Thai class recently, throwing punches, and the instructor was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re taking your hand all the way out to Timbuktu!’ [laughs]

‘WE HAD WEEKLY SESSIONS OF FORCE TRAINING WITH A MOVEMENT COACH. IT WAS REALLY FUN’

DAFNE KEEN

SABER PARTY

LJ-j: [Referring to the scene, shown in the trailer, where the Jedi prepare for battle] All the crew were so excited about that scene when we shot it. They told us how cool it looked - you know, this line of Jedi turning on their lightsabers at the same time, all the different colours lighting up…

RH: Vernestra’s lightsaber is purple, and she was able to alter it as a 16-year-old and turn it into a lightwhip.

CB: I have a yellow lightsaber. At first I really wanted to have a purple one. And I was given a different colour initially, but I can’t say what because it relates to another character… And they took that one away and gave me a yellow one, and at first I was like, ‘What? I’ve barely seen yellow used. What is this?!’ But I think yellow represents balance, duality, a person who’s just as much connected to the Force as to their own physical grounding.

DK: I broke three lightsabers. They were custom-sized to me, because I’m shorter than everyone else. My original saber was regular-sized, which was too long and kept hitting the ground. So they made me shorter ones. How did I feel when I broke my first one? I shat myself. I was like, ‘I’m about to get fired.’ Halfway through a take I whacked it and the LED light just died. I don’t think it happened to anyone else, which… I don’t know how I should feel about that [laughs].

MJ: Yes, I definitely had a lot of lightsaber envy. But at the end of the day, watching [the other actors] sweat and get sore every day from the training… I was like, ‘You know what? I’m good with my drink and my sandwich!’

BALANCE OF THE FORCE

LH: Honestly, the way I look at it is, there is no light without darkness. No good without bad. So to me - and this might just be a personal thing - the Force is about balance. It’s not a Marvel superpower. [The Forcesensitive] aren’t using telekinesis because they’re special, powerful people; it’s because they’ve achieved balance. As Yoda says, ‘My ally is the Force.’ So the idea of a separation from that was really interesting… If you are unbalanced, the Force cannot protect you.

AS: You know, I was surprised how much freedom I was given around what using the Force looked like to me. Of course, I referenced as much as I could that already exists [in previous films/shows]. But because we’re in the High Republic era, things are more open. And as explored in many of the books, there’s a large variety of Force-users, which allowed me to get creative.

DK: We had weekly sessions of Force training with a movement coach. It was about learning the common language of how to use [the Force], but also finding the right movement for your character, because it’s such a personal thing. I wasn’t expecting it to be as difficult as it was, but it was also really fun. Every so often you’d come out of yourself and feel ridiculous. But it was great; we were all so invested, and we all really trusted Leslye. She was our bible. She was the boss.

GRANDIOSE DESIGNS

LH: I was in such good hands with the people executing my vision for this show. We had a long pre-production phase, but we all clicked right away, especially cinematographer Chris [Teague] and me, as we’d already worked on Russian Doll. Chris and I talked a lot about honouring George Lucas’ camera moves.

I would say the original trilogy became our touchpoint for how to craft the world, while the Episode I-ness of the show is a bit more thematic. The High Republic influenced the colour scheme and the costumes; our costume designer Jennifer L. Bryan really took inspiration from the Jedi designs.

AS: Jennifer and her team were so flexible and willing to do anything to make my costume as comfortable as possible. There were about eight different pieces, plus all these hidden elements that ensured I could squat if I needed to, or throw a hook, a backhand punch…

RH: I’m in some unbelievable Jedi robes. You don’t have to have read the [High Republic] books to enjoy the show, but if you have then you know this is a kind of golden time for the Jedi and that their robes are lavish. And as an elder Jedi, Vernestra has some gorgeous, very heavy robes.

CB: Putting on the costume immediately made it so much easier for me to walk in every day. I will say that it was very tight, so I had to make sure I didn’t eat too many Scotch eggs.

MJ: Qimir isn’t the most fashionable person. I think he’s spent a lot of his money eating at his home planet’s cantina. His fashion sense is basically hobbit meets… poverty.

DK: Jecki is a Theelin, which made me feel very honoured because Theelins are Leslye’s favourite aliens. All the prosthetics were really fun - although having horns can be dangerous, especially when you hug people.

RH: [The make-up] was really helpful in making me feel non-human. But sometimes I would forget and look in the mirror and be like, ‘Oh my god! I’m fully green!’ But I look great, I’ve got to say. I’m not Elphaba-in-Wicked green. I’m not the Hulk. She’s like an earthy green, something you’d see in nature.

PREQUELS, PRESTIGE, POWER

AS: We are the prequel to the prequels. And the prequels have this kind of prestige to them, this monarchical vibe. So one of my main questions going in was: are we going to maintain that sensibility? And yes, in many ways we do, while also incorporating elements that feel really contemporary and relatable. When I watched [the finished episodes] I was really struck by how universal the story was.

RH: I do think the show’s about power. At this point in the High Republic, power is only used in a specific way. Who’s allowed to use power? Who controls the power? Who makes those rules?

DK: I think trust is a big theme. Who do you trust? Who are the goodies and baddies? The show is really playing with those themes, because it’s not so clear-cut.

MJ: Even though Star Wars has been pretty black and white in the past in terms of good guys and bad guys, I think with our show we’ll get audiences really thinking about whether they resonate with the Light Side or the Dark Side.

LH: The Acolyte is a mystery. It’s similar to Russian Doll, which was really about giving the audience information episode by episode, this spiral of storytelling. This is a much larger landscape, but it similarly tackles the idea of ‘your eyes can deceive you’. You’re going to think the show is one thing, but then it’s going to gearshift into something else, and then do it again. It’s a show packed with everything I wanted to explore: I wanted EU [Expanded Universe] stuff in there, references to the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace, the Disney sequels… it’s absolutely packed. Because you never know, you may not get the chance again!

STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE STARTS ON DISNEY+ ON 5 JUNE.