It’s looking like Jodie Turner-Smith is heading to the Star Wars universe. Per Deadline, it has just been reported that the Queen & Slim star is currently in final talks to appear alongside Amandla Stenberg (Dear Evan Hansen) in the upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte which is in development at Disney+. Stenberg’s casting was previously announced, though no other cast members have yet to be confirmed. No information about Turner-Smith’s character has been revealed.
Developed by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), The Acolyte is expected to begin production this fall. Described as a mystery-thriller series, the show “takes viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final day of the High Republic era.” Headland previously addressed how it felt to join the Star Wars family.
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“I kind of see, if Star Wars is a religion… I like to think of my show as a tent revival,” Headland said of The Acolyte. “You can come over if you want to. We’re going to be talking about some cool stuff. There’s going to be some things we haven’t discussed in the canon yet. This is what Star Wars fans have been curious about, and they are going to have to continue to be curious about. We’ll all just have to wait and see who these new characters are and if they have any familiar connections.”
Teasing the new characters we’ll meet in The Acolyte, Headland added, “There are going to be some characters you don’t know about. I would love you to join us.”
Turner-Smith has appeared in films like The Neon Demon, Queen & Slim, Without Remorse, and White Noise. Her small screen credits include The Last Ship, Jett, and Anne Boleyn. She is also set to appear in the upcoming Netflix comedy sequel Murder Mystery 2 with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler.
The Acolyte Takes Inspiration from The Phantom Menace
Disney+
In a previous interview, via TheWrap, Headland also explained how Star Wars: The Phantom Menace helps shape the story of The Acolyte. Headland can recall when the film first came out and all of the questions that came along with it. Working on something like The Acolyte provided the opportunity to personally provide some answers to many of those questions.
“I actually was very intrigued by why George Lucas had started us at that particular point,” Headland said. “I kind of wondered, but what happened to lead up to this? That’s kind of where my Star Wars fan brain went was like, ‘How did we get here?’ And why are the Jedi like this?”
Headland added, “When they are in power, why are they acting this way and how is it that they’re not having the reaction that you would think they would to Anakin’s presence and what Qui-Gon Jinn is saying about how passionately he feels about training him and bringing him into the fold. It’s like, even the discovery of Darth Maul is kind of met with this like, ‘Hm, interesting’ kind of feeling. So I just think for me, my brain has always buzzed around that area and wondered what’s going on here, or what has been going on here.”
The Acolyte does not yet have a premiere date set at Disney+.
