Hunger Games franchise alum Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give, Darkest Minds) has reportedly been cast as the star of the upcoming live-action Star Wars series, The Acolyte.
Per an article about the latest live-action Star Wars casting:
Not much is known about the lead role for The Acolyte. It has been revealed that they have been searching for a woman of color in her late teens early twenties, athletic, who is able to handle the physical demands of this role as it will include martial arts. But how the character relates to the still mysterious plot of the series is being kept under wraps, many have speculated that she herself is the Acolyte, a term used to refer to Sith apprentices.
The report goes on to note that Stenberg is in “advanced negotiations” with Lucasfilm.
While Headland’s series has remained largely shrouded in mystery overall, we do know that it will take place at the end of the High Republic era — approximately 200 years before the Skywalker Saga begins with Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) — making it the first television property in the High Republic multimedia initiative, which has previously included comics and novels.
Headland previously shared these details about inclusivity in her secretive project, which is reportedly set to begin filming in February 2022 in London:
“I relate to male characters all the time. I root for Mando [Pedro Pascal’s bounty hunter Din Djarin]. I root for Luke [Mark Hamill’s Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker]… An inclusive space means an inclusive space. But at the same time, I think that just because something has a female protagonist doesn’t necessarily mean it’s only for women.”
“I kind of see, if Star Wars is a religion… I like to think of my show as a tent revival. 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. There are going to be some characters you don’t know about. I would love you to join us. I would love you to be interested in it.
Credit: ABC
