The Star Wars Universe will never be the same now that Squid Game star Lee Jung-Jae is joining the cast of the new Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte. Lee Jung-Jae will act as the show’s leading man opposite Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give, The Darkest Minds) and Jodi Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim, After Yang, Without Remorse). Leslye Headland is on the frontline of The Acolyte, acting as the project’s director, writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Headland has been shadowing Kathleen Kennedy throughout her Star Wars journey, learning much about ways to make the time-honored sci-fi property exciting, inclusive, and limitless in its possibilities.
The Acolyte will take place during the High Republic era, a golden age for the Jedi that has yet to be explored in live-action. The series is described as a “mystery thriller that will take us into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging Dark Side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.”
Production on The Acolyte is expected to begin in London later this year. Leslye Headland has previously teased that the series’ origin stemmed from her questions while watching The Phantom Menace. “How did we get to where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it?” Headland said. “What went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment? So that’s what I would say. That’s how I would describe it to my friends, especially my non-Star Wars friends.” In addition to exploring an era we don’t know all that much about, we also haven’t seen a Star Wars series revolve around Dark Side characters. “I think if you want to explore Star Wars from the perspective of the bad guys, the best time to do it is when the bad guys are wildly outnumbered,” Headland teased. “When they actually are essentially the underdogs, for lack of a better term.”
Lee is one of South Korea’s most celebrated actors. The Star Wars Universe can only benefit from the Squid Game actor, director, and model joining the ongoing battles among the cosmos. Squid Game captured the hearts and minds of millions when it debuted on Netflix, bringing eyes across the world squarely to Lee’s glorious mug. The survival thriller series fans will likely be thrilled to see Lee interacting with Star Wars royalty and newcomers.
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