Star Wars: The Acolyte's Leslye Headland Explains Kelnacca's Big Episode 7 Scene

We talked to Leslye Headland about Kelnacca's big action scene.

By Jamie Jirak

Star Wars: The Acolyte is currently seven episodes deep on Disney+, and it's the first time fans have seen a Wookiee Jedi in live-action. Joonas Suotamo, who took over the role of Chewbacca from Peter Mayhew, played Kelnacca in The Acolyte, but the character met an early end in the show's fourth episode. However, the most recent episode, "Choice," was another flashback, and featured a big moment for Kelnacca. The Wookiee was mind-controlled by the witches on Brendok and forced to fight his fellow Jedi. ComicBook recently had the chance to join a press roundtable with The Acolyte creator, Leslye Headland, and we asked what went into the choreography of the fight considering they had to balance Kelnacca's Wookiee strength with his Jedi skills all while being mind-controlled.

"Wookiees are not obviously against antagonists ... They can be very aggressive, but they have this honor code specifically about extending their claws, which they don't do for anything except climbing," Headland explained. "So what we talked about was that when he was under this particular influence, not only would he be so aggressive against his friends and ostensibly the heroes of the story in a way that felt pretty vicious and unlike his own personality, but that also he would unknowingly make this horrible, horrendous choice that he would never make in under his own will. He would never have done so."

"I guess technically he would get a pass for that, but I don't think he gives himself a pass for it," she continued. "But the fight was incredible. I mean, that was all Kogonada who directed the episode, Chris Cowan, my action choreographer, and also the second unit director, the actors. Joonas is the only person who fits in the suit. So he did all of his own stunts in fighting. JJ did almost all of his own stunts in fighting. My only contribution to it was the one time when Sol is grabbing his arm and saying his name. I just thought it felt like Sol would try to get through to him emotionally, not just fight him."

Joonas Suotamo Explains Kelnacca:

THE ACOLYTE
(Photo:

Jedi Master Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) in Star Wars: The Acolyte.

- Lucasfilm Ltd.)

During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Suotamo broke down Kelnacca's character traits and explained how he played him differently from Chewbacca. 

"Kelnacca is a very proud Jedi," Suotamo shared with EW. "He's obviously completed his Jedi training, but I thought he always felt as a bit of an outsider because, obviously, he's not human-born. So that caused me to think that he's a bit of a lone wolf sort of thing. So he's with the others, but he's also mindful that he might not a hundred percent belong with the other Jedi in that way."

"It's in how you carry yourself, your posture, how you move, and all these choices of this physical acting," he added of the difference between playing Chewbacca and Kelnacca. "And it was actually Rian Johnson when we were filming The Last Jedi, he recommended that I watch the silent masters of cinema – Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton – so that I could learn more about how to show what my character is thinking and what he's doing. And I've tried to do that.

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So whenever we get the page, I try to choose 'How would Kelnacca go about doing what he's doing?' And comparing to Chewbacca, he's very trained, he's in control of his own desires, and he's very talented in doing these things that only Jedi can do. He was sort of like a samurai master, but also being of imposing size, that sort of led me to believe that he's like the Mufasa of Star Wars- that he's walking there and a very, very imposing figure for the others." 

Stay tuned for more from the roundtable interview ComicBook attended with Leslye Headland. The season finale of Star Wars: The Acolyte drops on Disney+ on July 16th. 

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