Jodie Turner-Smith teases her role in Star Wars: The Acolyte

Jodie Turner-Smith has revealed new information about her role in the upcoming live-action television series Star Wars: The Acolyte. In addition to Turner-Smith, The Acolyte main cast was previously announced and features actors including Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, and Dafne Keen.

As a mystery-thriller exploring emerging dark side forces in the final days of the High Republic era, The Acolyte is poised to be one of the most unique Star Wars television series yet. It has also been teased that The Acolyte is a Sith-led story showing how the Sith infiltrated the Jedi Order.

StarWars.com shared a behind-the-scenes photo with showrunner Leslye Headland directing Stenberg and Jung-jae, along with sharing more information about the story with the following description: “A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.”

Little else is known about the story, but while speaking with Collider, Turner-Smith provided some new details about her character in the upcoming series:

"“Amandla [Stenberg] is such an incredible performer. I, unfortunately, didn’t have any scenes with her, but I got to see a little bit of what they’ve been doing, and I think it’s gonna be epic, and it’s nothing that anyone has seen before inside of that universe.”"

It is intriguing to know that Turner-Smith and Stenberg will not be sharing any scenes together, especially since Stenberg is reportedly playing the leading role in the story. Stenberg and Turner-Smith’s characters may be separated by different storylines and settings for the entirety of The Acolyte season 1, just as Cassian Andor and Mon Mothma were for the entirety of Andor season 1.

Turner-Smith provided even more insight when asked if her character uses a lightsaber:

“I didn’t get to use a lightsaber… but I did… not get to use a lightsaber.” Turner-Smith elaborated on this by adding, “Because I am not a Jedi!”

Knowing that Turner-Smith is not playing a Jedi character is one of the most substantial story reveals leading up to The Acolyte so far. She could be connected to the dark side forces emerging, as she only specified that she is not a Jedi and does not get to use a lightsaber. She could also be a character more connected to the political side of things during the High Republic era, or she could be playing another role entirely.

Stenberg is widely believed to be playing the Jedi Padawan mentioned in the series description. It makes more sense knowing that Turner-Smith didn’t film any scenes with her if Stenberg is playing a Jedi and Turner-Smith is not a Jedi. Stenberg may be part of the Jedi and Sith storylines while Turner-Smith is part of another storyline in the show.

At this point, every breadcrumb revealed about The Acolyte is exciting, especially for fans of the High Republic era, and because the show already sounds so different from most other Star Wars television series.