Amandla Stenberg on how The Acolyte has made sci-fi safe for Black nerds
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There are many reasons for Star Wars fans to be excited about the franchise's upcoming Disney+ series The Acolyte. For one thing, it will explore an entirely new era on screen — it takes place at the tail end of the High Republic. For another, it will give us our first live-action Wookie Jedi, a warrior named Kelnacca (played by Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo). Anticipation is also building for the show's elaborate martial arts-inspired fight scenes.
But there is another reason The Acolyte is already standing out well before its 2024 launch date: It is the most inclusive and diverse live-action Star Wars project ever. Not only is the show's lead, Amandla Stenberg, a gay, non-binary, Black intersectional feminist, but they are joined in the cast by Queen & Slim star Jodie Turner-Smith (who is also Black), South Korean Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game fame, The Good Place's Manny Jacinto (of Filipino-Chinese descent), the Spanish-born Dafne Keen (Logan), Chicago Fire's Charlie Barnett (who is Black and gay), and Rebecca Henderson of Russian Doll, who is gay and married to showrunner Leslye Headland.
Kate Green/Lucasfilm Ltd. The cast of 'Star Wars: The Acolyte' drop by Star Wars Celebration to preview the High Republic era-set show
That inclusivity and diversity is especially startling considering where the franchise began in 1977, when the only Black actor to be part of the original Star Wars was James Earl Jones, who provided the voice, but not the body, of Darth Vader. However, the franchise has made strides with its recent streaming shows. Chilean actor/internet daddy Pedro Pascal is the star of The Mandalorian, Moses Ingram played one of the main villains in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Rosario Dawson is about to star as the title character in Ahsoka, which launches August 23.
It's a progression that Acolyte star Stenberg called "really exciting" when they sat down with EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast to discuss their new show. "You see the progress that Star Wars is making across the board in all of the streaming series," says Stenberg, who also notes the difficulties minority fans (not to mention actors) have traditionally felt when gravitating towards the genre.
Rachell Smith Amandla Stenberg of 'The Acolyte'
"When it comes to the world of fantasy and sci-fi in general, it hasn't felt like a safe space always for people of color," Stenberg says. "And it's been a world that I've always deeply loved and been invested in. So to be in any way, shape, or form a part of the wave that is ushering in inclusion and safety for Black nerds, it's my dream come true."
That diversity and inclusion was something that the rest of the cast couldn't help but observe. Turner-Smith tells EW it was "definitely something I noticed and was really excited about, and was one of the reasons that I chose to step into the world," while Keen notes that the actors were well aware of the variety of perspectives at play. "That was definitely a conversation we've had on set," Keen says. "It's really refreshing to walk onto a set as diverse as this one in every sense. We've all come from different corners of the world and it's really great to get so many different people from different backgrounds to create this thing together."
Rachell Smith Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, and Charlie Barnett of 'The Acolyte'
Barnett is excited for audiences to see what he and so many others have not seen before on screen. "I don't think I could have ever imagined myself as a Jedi," Barnett says. "Because I was not reflected for so many times throughout these films in the past. So to see such a diverse group now, I think it's going be a really impactful. It's gonna be [a] cool moment for me for sure, I can tell you that."
Many in the cast point to Lee Jung-jae — whom they call JJ — and how impressive he has been not only learning his Jedi master character, but also learning the English language at the same time. And for Manny Jacinto, Jung-jae's role represents a true breakthrough for the franchise. "If I'm being candid, this is the first time you're getting to see an Asian Jedi," Jacinto says. "It's a pretty big responsibility. Getting to see him inspire a new generation of Asian kids to like take up the lightsaber — it's pretty incredible."
Rachell Smith Lee Jung-jae, Amandla Sternberg, and showrunner Leslye Headland of 'The Acolyte'
Turner-Smith has noticed something else incredible about The Acolyte that makes it stand out from the pack of Star Wars offerings. "I also really loved that that our show was much more woman-centered than what I have previously seen in the Star Wars world," she told the Dagobah Dispatch. "Just from the fact that our incredible showrunner Leslye is a genius woman, and the female producers and having Amandla be the person who's leading our cast — it was a very cool way into this universe, and a way that I feel that people have never necessarily seen before, other than they're going see Rosario in an amazing woman-centered show as well."
Rachell Smith Jodie Turner-Smith of 'The Acolyte'
For Turner-Smith, shows like Ashoka— which also has a female-heavy cast — and The Acolyte represent a new breed of Star Wars offerings. "I feel like we are part of a wave of more inclusive and beautifully represented Star Wars shows. So that felt really cool. And I felt the importance of that, especially in some of the stuff that I got to where everyone really was excited about what they were seeing and what that would maybe mean for different fans — fans that don't necessarily look like what you normally think the traditional Star Wars fan looks like. Because if there's anything that I learned from this show, it's that the Star Wars fan is varied."
And thanks to The Acolyte, the Star Wars casts are a lot more varied now as well.
Listen to our interview with The Acolyte cast on EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast.
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