Dafne Keen discusses her experience working with showrunner Leslye Headland on the upcoming Disney+ series, The Acolyte. Keen praises Headland’s “amazing” approach and highlights Headland’s extensive understanding of the Star Wars universe.
Summary
A century before the events of *Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace*, *The Acolyte* takes place. The new series won’t be released until the summer, but Dafne Keen shares insights into working with showrunner Leslye Headland and her new character, Jecki Lon. Keen talks about Headland’s broad understanding of *Star Wars* in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“Leslye is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever worked with. She’s such an interesting director in the sense that she has an innate trust with actors and her crew that it makes you trust her more. She’s so confident in the people she’s hiring, and she has such a broad understanding of Star Wars and of cinema in general that I truly feel like I would follow that woman to the trenches.”
Keen sheds some light on her character in the same interview:
“Well, I’m very excited that we know her name now, because it was secret for so long. And I’m very happy that I get to say that she’s an alien and that she’s a Padawan and that she’s a Jedi.She’s a mixed species — part Theelin, part human. She’s very cool, and I have some very cool fights I do with the lightsaber. I really love her. She’s a great character and was really fun to play. I’m very excited that the trailer came out. I was buzzing for days.”
‘Whatever You Think The Acolyte Is, It’s Not’
Keen’s character Jecki Lon adds to the *Star Wars* universe, despite not being created by George Lucas. However, showrunner Leslye Headland has stated, “Whatever you think *The Acolyte* is, it’s not.” Headland offered insights into the series in a recent interview with StarWars.com:
“If Star Wars is about the underdog versus the institution, the Jedi are the institution. I was so interested in a storyline where the Jedi were at the height of their power — and I don’t mean The Phantom Menace, because at that point, there’s a Sith Lord in the Senate that they’re not picking up on.”
Headland expanded in the interview:
“You don’t need to know too much to enter the story. This is very incendiary, but whatever you think *The Acolyte* is, it’s not that. It’s a drop in the bucket, baby. Just hang in there and check it out.”
Wrapping Up
Dafne Keen’s character Jecki Lon brings new depth to The Acolyte, with showrunner Leslye Headland promising unexpected twists. Check out more at HitPlay.
