Fresh on the heels of the casting announcement yesterday, the upcoming Disney+ series The Acolyte has signed on another powerhouse actor to join a galaxy far, far away.
As reported by Deadline, Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae has joined the mystery-thriller series as the lead male role alongside Amandla Stenberg. Lee Jung-jae became a breakout star in the Netflix series, and he’s on the verge of possibly winning a Primetime Emmy Award for the lead actor category this weekend with Squid Game. Though, it’s important to note like with Jodie Turner-Smith’s casting announcement yesterday that none of this has been confirmed by Lucasfilm. With D23 this weekend from September 9-11, we’ll probably get the official confirmation soon.
Lee joins an already stellar cast for Leslye Headland’s (Russian Doll) new series. Amandla Stenberg shined in The Hate U Give. Jodie Turner-Smith is well known in indie film circles like After Yang and Queen & Slim. Lee Jung-jae recently came off of his directorial debut in his espionage action film Hunt which he also stars in.
Details around The Acolyte have been under wraps with filming set to start this fall. The series takes place during the final days of the High Republic era. The High Republic is set a little over 200 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. The publishing initiative kicked off with the Charles Soule 2021 novel Light of the Jedi showing the Jedi Order in their golden age and their downfall into the prequel era. The Acolyte is a thriller as the Dark Side is beginning to rise and secrets emerge from the shadows of the galaxy.
With Amandla, Jodie, and now Lee signed up, The Acolyte has a stunning diverse cast leading in this new era of Star Wars.
Stay tuned with Dork Side of the Force for our upcoming coverage of D23 and The Acolyte.