Disney+ Announces Cast for ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘The Acolyte’ as Production Begins
As production begins in the U.K. on the upcoming Star Wars spinoff The Acolyte, Disney+ has officially announced the cast for the highly-anticipated sci-fi series, including Squid Game lead Lee Jung-jae and His Dark Materials star Dafne Keen.
Keen and Jung-jae join the previously announced Amandla Stenberg (Dear Evan Hansen), alongside fellow new additions Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Jodie Turner-Smith (White Noise), Rebecca Henderson (Sex Appeal), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix Resurrections).
Created by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that takes viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. It follows a former Padawan who reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes; however, the forces they face are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
Headland serves as showrunner and executive producer on the series and will also direct the series pilot. Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef are also on board as exec producers, while Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing.
Jung-jae rose to prominence last year for his starring role in Netflix’s Korean breakout hit Squid Game, where he played Seong Gi-hun. The series received 14 Emmy nominations, winning 6 of them, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Jung-jae.
Keen, meanwhile, is best known for playing Lyra Belacqua in the television series His Dark Materials, based on the trilogy of novels of the same name by Philip Pullman. She made her on-screen debut on the BBC Worldwide series The Refugees in 2014 before her breakthrough role as Laura in the 2017 superhero film Logan, in which she received widespread critical acclaim for her performance.
A premiere date has not yet been announced for The Acolyte, but the series will stream exclusively on Disney+.
The Acolyte, TBA, Disney+
