At the heart of The Acolyte, the all-new Star Wars series on Disney+, there are myriad mysteries at play. Which masked figure is killing the Jedi? How does the peaceful High Republic era of the galaxy give way to the political turmoil of The Phantom Menace, 100 years down the line? And what’s the deal with Amandla Stenberg’s Mae, the enigmatic assassin seen doing serious damage to several Jedi Masters in the show’s action-packed trailers?
Empire sat down with Stenberg to tease out some early information about her part to play in the story, devised by series creator Leslye Headland – also discussing the unique way she was cast in the show, her ‘adorable’ martial arts master, and the time she teared up while meeting Lucasfilm legend Dave Filoni.
EMPIRE: At Star Wars Celebration last year you cosplayed as Padmé. You're clearly a huge fan – where did your love of Star Wars begin?
AMANDLA STENBERG: It really started with the prequel series, because that's the age range that I fall into. I have a soft spot for... somewhat vaporwave ‘90s content [laughs]. I also am a big Anakin fan. So it starts with the prequel series, watching those when I was younger with my older sister. Which is a controversial opinion, actually, my devotion to the prequels!
No, there's a growing number, an entire generation...
I think so! We're rising up.
Hayden was at Celebration in a big way – did you have your moment with him?
I didn't get to meet Hayden. But I got to meet Dave Filoni, and I think I teared up a little bit [laughs]. He was like, ‘It's so cool what you guys are doing over there! We're so excited to bring you guys into the fold.’ And I was like, ‘You created The Clone Wars?!’
How did Leslye Headland pitch The Acolyte to you?
The show was actually pitched to me in visual form. I had a meeting with Leslye and [Lucasfilm creative executive] Rayne Roberts. We sat down for some brunch, and they opened up this iPad with concept art that had been conceptualised – with me in it. Even at that point, details were being held from me, so I was extrapolating what I could based off off the images. But I understood that it was an exploration of the light and dark parts of ourselves, and the rules in the galaxy around how the Force can be used. Which was insane, to experience that.
"Going into filming, Leslye held a screening for the entire cast and crew of Kill Bill."
So you get a call, go for brunch, and suddenly there’s art of you as a Star Wars character?
Correct, that is the way it happened. It was so wild! That's something I don't think ever happens, ever. It was also my first taste of really understanding how Lucasfilm functions – it feels very familial. Obviously it was a massive honour, and shock. But it made me understand that this is the way they work with people – opening up their world, and collaborating, and placing their trust in people in this really beautiful way. Leslye is that way too, super collaborative.
So what is their story pitch to you? Your character, Mae, is extraordinarily secretive. What did they tell you?
Um... So I got Leslye's conceptual tagline that she's been sharing, which is that it was a mixture of Frozen and Kill Bill. Which immediately sucker-punched me, because Kill Bill is one of my favourite movies. Going into filming, Leslye held a screening for the entire cast and crew of Kill Bill. And then I was told that it would be at the height of the High Republic era – which was so interesting to me, because I feel like the further back you go in Star Wars lore, the more fascinating it gets, and the more concepts people within Lucasfilm have started to dig into and explore. It creates a really rich, fascinating web.
As a big prequels fan, what was it like to learn that you were going to be part of a story that leads into that era of the timeline?
So trippy! [laughs] I don't think I’ve fully wrapped my head around it yet. I also don't know all the details. But for me, it was the most dream-like result that I could be within that point in the timeline.
What can you tell me about Mae, then? What’s she going through in this show?
[Pause] I can tell you about some of the references that were important to us – one of them was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I did about seven weeks of martial arts training with my master, [Junchang Lu], who is the sweetest master in the world. [laughs] Oh my goodness, he's so adorable. Maybe you're not supposed to say that about your master. But he’s so adorable. I love him so much.
The Acolyte really seems to get into the light side, dark side dynamic. Where does Mae sit on that scale? I'm getting the sense she’s more towards the dark side…
I think it's a lot more complicated than that, which is the point of the show. Hopefully, if we did our job right, the show makes it an interesting interrogation into what it means to be on the light side or the dark side.
I’ve seen you have a fight scene with Lee Jung-Jae’s Master Sol – and with Carrie-Anne Moss’ Master Indara. What’s it like fighting with Trinity from The Matrix?
Soooo cool. When I first found out about it, I damn near had a heart attack, because I love The Matrix. And my goodness, what a cool, strong character. It just felt incredible that I had the opportunity to learn from somebody in realtime, who had spent so much time in this industry in similar positions to me. She was an incredible source of inspiration – to be with her, and to know her, and be on set together... She's also incredibly caring and so sweet. Low-key, she was mom. [laughs] I was having some pain in my knee, and she took me into the tent and started doing energy work on my body, talking through what was going on, and what tips she had in terms of how I could maintain carrying this show. She is just so cool. Like, ridiculously cool. And spiritually-aligned. It meant so much to me to have her wisdom.
What’s Mae’s dynamic with Master Indara?
Definitely contentious. [laughs]
Hostile, seems to be the vibe.
Yeah, it's not rainbows and butterflies.
Mae’s weapon of choice is a pair of knives – that’s an unconventional weapon in Star Wars. What does that tell us about her?
Well, being in the High Republic era opens up the terrain a bit for what kinds of weapons we might be interested in. The series relies upon very specific tropes and archetypes, and we wanted to follow in that lineage. So that's why those knives are there. I also just think they're super cool. It's a time in the galaxy where the way people use the Force is... in canon, it's very expansive. It doesn't necessarily have the more rigid conceptions that it might have later in the Galactic Republic. So that provides us the opportunity to maybe explore the different way this character relates to the Force.
"I once took a nap in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."
It’s a big part of the High Republic books, how every Jedi sees or feels the Force in a different way. There’s some Force-fu in the fight between Mae and Indara – is that a nod towards that notion?
Yeah, 100 per cent. It also speaks to the diversity of the galaxy – that there's so many different kinds of people, creatures, species, Force users.
You shot the show on practical sets and locations. What was your favourite set to be on?
We went to Madeira, Portugal, which was so stinking beautiful. My goodness. It was wild to be looking out across rock formations that were hundreds of feet tall in the middle of the ocean and think, ‘They're gonna throw a ship on top of that rock!’
Can you tell me where Madeira is ‘playing’ in the show? Even a hint?
No, no, I can't tell you that [laughs]. Something about it is very Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It falls very, very importantly into the hero's journey.
As a Star Wars fan, you must have seen some incredible, iconic things while making The Acolyte. Which hit you the most?
I once took a nap in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
Was it the best nap of your life?
It was the nap of my life. I pretty much freaked out every time I walked onto a new set. You see them on screen, and you fall in love with them, and being in person it's kind of like... I don't know, seeing a whale. You're just struck with awe and majesty of the size and scope and beauty of it. So many people who work on Star Wars are huge Star Wars fans. It's like a bunch of people's childhood dreams coming true together, but mixed with this high-level detailed artisanship.
The Acolyte streams on Disney+ from 5 June