The new Star Wars series has a lot of Jedi and Force-sensitive characters.
Akhil Arora, a Film Critics Guild member and a Rotten Tomatoes-certified TV critic, who has been reporting on Star Wars since 2015. He has written for NDTV and SlashFilm.
With The Acolyte—the eight-episode Star Wars series premiering June 4 on Disney+—we are headed to a never-before-seen era in live-action: The High Republic. In the galaxy far, far away, it is a time of peace and great prosperity with the Jedi at the height of their power. Set in a golden age about a century prior to the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the new TV show follows an investigation into a heinous crime that involves twin sisters and a bunch of Jedi. (And maybe even the Sith, given all the teases.) The Acolyte creator and showrunner Leslye Headland—best known for Netflix’s Russian Doll—chose that era because she was “very interested in how the Jedi got to the place that they did” after seeing The Phantom Menace.
As with virtually every Star Wars project, The Acolyte explores both the light and dark side of the Force. The concept of duality is central to the series, with the twin sisters a core part of fleshing that out. For Headland, this was personal material. “I have a very strained relationship with my youngest sister, and I feel like one of the reasons it is strained is that we both see each other as the bad guy,” Headland told The New York Times. “And if I was going to tell a story about bad guys, it seemed to me that the place to start should be a familial relationship where one person is adamantly convinced of her correctness and the other person is also adamantly convinced of her correctness.” That is true of the twin sisters in The Acolyte as well.
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Made on a budget of $180 million—that’s over $22 million per episode—The Acolyte is the first Star Wars series to be created by a woman. (It arrives on the back of two middling and disappointing releases: Ahsoka last August and The Mandalorian season 3 last March.) In addition to being the creator and showrunner, Headland also directed the first two episodes. “I just love Star Wars—I always have,” Headland remarked. “Every time I’m asked the question, ‘What is your fandom like?’ or ‘What do you love about Star Wars?’, it’s difficult for me to answer because I love it on a deep cellular level. I almost think Star Wars has been a part of my personality since I can remember.”
With the first two episodes due Tuesday, let’s learn about the full main cast of The Acolyte.
Amandla Stenberg, Osha and Mae Aniseya
Stenberg plays the twin sisters Osha Aniseya and Mae Aniseya who are both Force sensitive. Separated due to a tragedy in childhood, they have led very different lives since. Osha trained with the Jedi under Master Sol for years. Mae is presumed dead before she returns as a dangerous warrior and begins hunting Jedi. Osha and Mae represent the light and dark side of the Force, like yin and yang.
“Exploring good and evil immediately encourages you to find duality within your protagonist,” Headland said of Stenberg. “And Amandla is someone who can understand that on an intellectual and spiritual level. And working with her, I’m seeing her actually putting it into practice. And actually, visualizing it. And bringing it to life.”
Lauren Brady and Leah Brady play younger versions of Osha and Mae, respectively, in The Acolyte.
Stenberg—first billed in The Acolyte cast—is best known for the movie The Hate U Give.
Lee Jung-jae, Sol
Sol is a respected Jedi Master who wields a blue lightsaber and trained Osha for several years. Lee, who plays Sol, learned English for the role and was “fascinated [by] how much the Star Wars galaxy and Leslye’s new story synchronized. I love the story about chance encounters, longing for precious people from one’s past and also overcoming obstacles to live for the future.”
“Lee Jung-jae knows how to switch from being emotionally available and vulnerable to being completely guarded and in control,” Headland said. “He knows how to be formidable and intimidating, and then he can switch to being just absolutely heartbreaking in terms of how fragile he is. I don’t know many actors who can do that.”
Lee—second billed in The Acolyte cast—is best known for playing the protagonist in Netflix’s global hit Squid Game.
Charlie Barnett, Yord Fandar
Yord Fandar is a Jedi Knight who wields a yellow lightsaber and is assisting Master Sol in his investigation of Mae’s crime spree. He lives by the Jedi code and “has no space for the uncontrolled,” Barnett, who plays Yord, said. “You can’t prepare for the unexpected. Yord knows that’s impossible, but he feels having control of himself and those around him helps prepare him for any situation.”
Barnett previously worked with Headland on Russian Doll and had utmost faith in her coming into The Acolyte: “She is one of the most valuable directors that I’ve ever worked with. She’s willing to throw things away and move [in] a different direction in an instant, which is exciting because it makes it more of a playful element.”
Barnett is billed third in The Acolyte cast.
Dafne Keen, Jecki
Keen had to put on full-face makeup to play Jecki, one of the core Jedi in The Acolyte. She wields a green lightsaber. “[Her] makeup look was a lot because it’s a prosthetic. There’s a lot of product on the skin and, normally, if somebody gets hot, the makeup starts to run off. But Dafne was fantastic. She didn’t touch it,” said Kamanza Amihyia, The Acolyte’s key hair and makeup artist.
Jecki and Yord are an unlikely duo as a competitive Padawan and Jedi Knight, both of whom are working under Master Sol for the purpose of this investigation. Keen said that Jecki can be “really rigid and rule prone” like Yord. But she’s more adaptive to the people and environment around her.
“I think what makes her a great Jedi is her capacity to learn and to grow,” Keen added. “She’s funny. She’s clever. And I love the Yord-Jecki dynamic.”
Keen—fourth billed in The Acolyte cast—is best known for the X-Men spin-off Logan and the TV series His Dark Materials.
Manny Jacinto, Qimir
One of the rare non-Force sensitive characters in The Acolyte cast, Qimir is an apothecary owner who knows how to get his way and survive. “He’s a bit of an aloof character with a tinge of mischief and humour,” Jacinto, who plays Qimir, said.
Headland had Jacinto in mind when writing Qimir. “If he hadn’t done it, I think I probably would have rewritten the character,” Headland noted.
Jacinto is best known for the TV series The Good Place and Nine Perfect Strangers.
Rebecca Henderson, Vernestra Rwoh
Vernestra is a Jedi Master who wields a purple lightsaber and is the only character who’s not new to The Acolyte. Fans of The High Republic novels know her as an idealistic Padawan. In the new Star Wars series, she’s much older and much more experienced. Vernestra has a lightsaber that can turn into a whip.
“One of [the] things I thought about a lot when beginning my work on Vernestra was what happens to a child prodigy as they grow up? And seeing her one hundred years after she’s been seen in the publishing series was intriguing to me,” Henderson, who plays Vernestra, said.
“She’s very powerful. Very settled in a way that’s different than when she was sixteen,” Henderson added. “She just knows herself very well and, in some ways, has seen it all. I found that playing what was going through her mind was very intriguing and interesting.”
Henderson is best known for the TV series Inventing Anna and Single Drunk Female.
Jodie Turner-Smith, Mother Aniseya
The Acolyte is set during a time when the Jedi aren’t the only Force users in the galaxy. “There are people who are Force-sensitive, but are not necessarily part of the Jedi Order,” Headland said.
Mother Aniseya, the leader of a coven of witches on a planet called Brendok, is one such individual. She is described as a powerful and mythical figure.
“She has abilities that are beyond anything that any of them have ever seen,” said Turner-Smith, who plays Mother Aniseya. “And for that reason, they follow her.”
Turner-Smith is best known for the movie Queen & Slim.
Dean-Charles Chapman, Torbin
Torbin is another Jedi Master part of The Acolyte cast who is stationed at a Jedi outpost. Not much else is known about him at this point.
Chapman, who plays Torbin, is best known for the movie 1917.
Joonas Suotamo, Kelnacca
The first Wookiee Jedi in live-action, Kelnacca has a green lightsaber, beaded hair, and a shaved and tattooed head. “He’s a Jedi, but a little bit vain. He likes the way he looks, so he’s going to look after his hair to maintain the sense of who he is,” said Neal Scanlan, the creature effects, special makeup effects and droid supervisor for The Acolyte.
Suotamo previously played Chewbacca in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
Carrie-Anne Moss, Indara
Indara is a Jedi Master who wields a green lightsaber and was inspired by Moss’ iconic role in The Matrix. Headland wanted the character to feel like Trinity with a lightsaber.
“Having the opportunity to work on a Star Wars production was something I don’t think I ever imagined that I would do,” Moss said. “The number one reason I wanted to do it was the opening scene. Leslye was able to articulate to me what she wanted in this opening scene, which is a huge action scene, [a] fight scene, between my character and Amandla’s character. I haven’t really done anything in that way in a long time in terms of fighting, in terms of choreography. So, I was super excited and wanted to do that.”
TBA, Sith Stranger
The chief villain of The Acolyte, who wields a red lightsaber, has been shrouded in secrecy. We’ve only gotten a brief look at the character in posters, trailers, and TV spots—the last of which possibly included dialogue spoken by the Sith stranger. It’s unclear who the actor is underneath the mask.
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