Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ this week, and the new series takes place in the High Republic era. The show features a star-studded line-up of actors, including Lee Jung-jae, who is best known for playing Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game. The actor is playing a Jedi named Sol in The Acolyte, and he recently spoke to ComicBook about what sets his character apart from the other Jedi in the High Republic.
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“So I kind of mentioned this roughness I wanted to embody, because of the High Republic timeline,” Jung-jae explained via translator. “But I think this kind of concerns the emotions as well, kind of expressing them a little bit roughly. So even though externally Master Sol is extremely powerful in the Force, I think the Jedi still have this intrinsic fear, right? Whether it’s the first time meeting a villain or, in the very beginning of a battle, feeling the power of your opponent for the first time.”
“So I think compared to the other Jedi, I really wanted to express Sol in a unique way, because he is extremely humanistic and you see that with his relationship to Osha, but having that small element of fear or small element of surprise, even within a battle,” he continued.
You can watch our interview with Jung-jae at the top of the page.
Leslye Headland Teases The Acolyte:
The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland has previously spoken about the series and teased what Star Wars fans can expect.
“We’re taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don’t know much about,” Headland explained in a previous interview. “My question when watching The Phantom Menace was always like, ‘Well, how did things get to this point?’ How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?’”
“We actually use the term the Renaissance, or the Age of Enlightenment,” Headland added. “The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it’s almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about,” Headland says. “The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that’s how little they’re getting into skirmishes.”
“The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea. And I said, ‘I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet,’” Headland revealed to Vanity Fair. “They were very enthusiastic. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters.”
What Is The Acolyte About?
Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.
Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.
