Amandla Stenberg Expresses the Joy and Pressure of Being in ‘The Acolyte’
In a new interview with Magazine C, the star of The Acolyte, Amandla Stenberg, spoke about her excitement as well as the heavy pressure towards the role. She also gave a few details about The Acolyte’s main themes and how it looks to challenge a bit of what we know about the Jedi.
At 25 years old, the young actress speaks in her interview about how she was first introduced to the role. While the story is familiar to those who saw her at Star Wars Celebration (where she also cosplayed as Padmé) she reiterates her initial glee when meeting showrunner Leslye Headland and seeing The Acolyte’s concept art for the first time:
“All the artwork was conceptualized with my face, and Leslye was like, ‘So I’ve been working on this for about three or four years for you. I don’t know what I’m going to do if you don’t do it. No pressure.’ So I was sent to the moon, of course.”
However, Stenberg also shares that she’s nervous. Considering that she’s also a fan, as she’s explained numerous times and as evidenced by her Instagram posts posing with Star Wars props, it’s likely understandable. While there’s still no official word on when the show will premiere, reports are saying The Acolyte will be released on June 5. She said the following about the heavy burden she had to carry while filming:
“I definitely have been feeling a little more trepidation than I thought … I have a really, really heavy load in this show, an abnormal load.”
Lastly, Stenberg illuminated more about the show’s themes and setting. It’s been known for a while now that the show will take place in the High Republic era, specifically 100 years before The Phantom Menace, but Stenberg discusses how it’s a show that may also change our perspective on certain establishments in a way that fits with Star Wars:
“In the context of the Star Wars universe, it’s a time of great peace, theoretically. It’s also a time of an institution, and it’s a time in which conceptions around the Force are very strict. And I think what we’re trying to explore within our show is when an institution has a singular conception of how power can be used … we try to provide a lot of different perspectives and answers to that question. The idea is to kind of honor the ethos of Star Wars and ideas around the Force and also challenge them, hopefully harmoniously.”
In a video attached to the profile interview, she added some additional comments about her Star Wars fandom and her favorite character, Padmé Amidala. Here are some of the highlights:
“I was a huge nerd growing up. Like, all I did was read sci-fi and fantasy, so I think there’s something about being able to be a part of the Star Wars universe that feels like a strange culmination of, like, the progression of my life, especially like one of my first big jobs having been in the sci-fi world in The Hunger Games.
My favorite character in the Star Wars galaxy is Padme because she’s just that girl, you know, she’s so intelligent, articulate, educated, sexy. She’s such a leader and decisionmaker and also, like, I love the fashion. [Laughs]
The first person who comes to mind when I think of a Jedi in my career is Spike Lee. When I was about 18, he gave me his number and he said ‘I’m your uncle now.’ [laughs] He is Jedi … I mean down to his garb.
There are so many lessons that you can learn from the Star Wars Galaxy, so many powerful lessons around power, around how power corrupts, how we contend with (and also accept) the dark and light parts of ourselves. Star Wars is jam-packed with allegories and what I love so much about it is that you can take the one that’s the most important to you.”
With the show’s inevitable release coming soon, our own Miguel Fernández discusses in his weekly update when will The Acolyte trailer be released. It’s a show Star Wars fans have heard a lot about in the past few years, but even then, I also discuss in my editorial why The Acolyte is my most anticipated show of 2024.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
