The Acolyte: Jodie Turner-Smith Reveals She's a Force User
61At Star Wars Celebration Europe this weekend, fans were treated to an exclusive trailer for the upcoming series, The Acolyte, which will take the franchise well into the past as the stories grow beyond the Skywalker Saga. It will be set 100 years before the events of the George Lucas prequels, which began with The Phantom Menace, and are based around an era known as the High Republic, which has been well documented in various forms of Star Wars expanded media over the years.
The series features an ensemble cast, including several of this generation's brightest stars, including Jodie Turner-Smith, and will center on a former Padawan who reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes. Having previously revealed to Collider that her character wasn't a Jedi, Turner-Smith has now elaborated on that having been given the freedom to say just a tiny bit more about her character, who she has described as a "very powerful leader," when she met up with Collider's editor-in-chief Steve Weintraub at the event in London:
"Oh, you know what I’m allowed to say? Guess what I’m allowed to say? That I am really powerful. I use the Force, but I'm not a Jedi or Sith [...] Do what you will with that information."
Turner-Smith also had words of praise for her collaborators on the project, highlighting both showrunner Leslye Headland and producer Rayne Roberts for particular attention, while speaking of her joy at the expanding representation of a diverse range of female leaders. Headland made headlines and received a rapturous reception during the event when she credited Star Wars with saving her life during difficult times.
Headland marks another in an ever-growing list of female creative leaders within the Star Wars universe, alongside the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi's show runner Deborah Chow, Bryce Dallas Howard - who has helmed a number of episodes for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who will direct the upcoming sequel starring Daisy Ridley, and of course, Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy.
"I love that it was led by women. You know? Leslye is over there, another one of our producers, Rayne [Roberts], was in here as well," continued Turner-Smith. "It’s really cool to be led by women, women of color, queer women. I was like, “In this world?” Which is very white, male. And that was really exciting, especially because Leslye is a fanatic. She is like our encyclopedia for all this. It’s also lovely to see the different kinds of fans, and they’re making it, and the way that she had the creative control of this thing in a chokehold was inspiring."
Who Else Is in the Cast of The Acolyte?
Stenberg was first attached to lead back in December 2021, but their casting was only an internet rumor until Stenberg was at SDCC last year when she was promoting A24's horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies. As time progressed, a suddenly linked with the project, with Squid Game's Emmy-winner Lee joining in a lead role, Manny Jacinto, and Russian Doll's Charlie Barnett signing on. As production got underway for the series last November, the ever-impressive cast bulked out with more quality after the additions of Carrie-Anne Moss, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Dafne Keen, all of whom boarded the project. It was also announced that Joonas Suotamo, known for playing Chewbacca in the sequel trilogy and Solo: A Star Wars Story was also announced to be joining the cast as a Wookiee Jedi Master.
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At this time, Collider Interviews has 8,967 views for Acolyte spread across 7 videos. His channel published less than an hour of Acolyte content, less than 0.05% of the total video content that Collider Interviews has uploaded to YouTube.