One of the next big Star Wars shows coming down the pike is The Acolyte. Set long before the prequel trilogy, The Acolyte will tell the story of the rise of the Sith right under the noses of the Jedi, who are then at the height of their power. It’s got a star-studded cast that includes Carrie-Anne Moss, Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Dafne Kean, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, and Dean-Charles Chapman. The Acolyte also stars Manny Jacinto, best known for his time on NBC’s high concept comedy The Good Place.
Details about the show are still relatively sparse, but we do know about a few of the main players. Jung-jae and Moss both play Jedi, while Rebecca Henderson is playing fan favorite Jedi Vernestra Rwoh. Jacinto’s character has remained elusive, but he at least let us know who he isn’t playing.
Manny Jacinto plays “a regular guy” who’s swept up in Jedi politics in The Acolyte
This comes from Empire, which talked to Jacinto at the Star Wars Celebration the other week. According to the actor, his character is “just a regular guy, trying to have a good time, who gets swept up into the High Republic world and the Jedi, whether he likes it or not.”
That description calls to mind rogues like Han Solo, who are swept up in ideological conflicts they claim to have no stake in. It’ll be interesting to see whether Jacinto’s character fits into that mold.
The Acolyte is being managed by Russian Doll co-creator Lesyle Headland, who also spoke quite a bit about the series at Star Wars Celebration. Headland revealed that the series was originally pitched as “Frozen meets Kill Bill” and presented an exciting opportunity to dig into a previously unexplored part of Star Wars mythology in a meaningful way.
“When you’re doing something completely original, like we are, you want to question the status quo of the era that you live in,” Headland said. “What I think is so interesting right now is that everybody thinks they’re right! The Jedi really think they’re right – and George [Lucas] tells us that they’re wrong in Phantom. They missed a huge aspect of the dark side rising. That just felt like fertile ground to look into what’s going on for all of us right now.”
The Acolyte is expected to premiere sometime in 2024 on Disney+.
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