Leslye Headland to Dave Filoni: "You asking me that question is making me cry"

Ahead of The Acolyte debuting its first two episodes on Disney+ on June 4th, the show's creator, Leslye Headland, sat down with fellow Star Wars creator Dave Filoni to discuss the series.

Leslye Headland to Dave Filoni: "You asking me that question is making me cry"

Dave Filoni is the Chief Creative Officer for Lucasfilm, which means that he helps creators in the Star Wars universe gain an understanding of the world of Star Wars if they are not totally familiar with it or helps steer them in the right direction. In the case of Headland, she was a huge Star Wars fan coming into The Acolyte, so she probably did not need too much steering.

Nonetheless, it was fascinating to see Headland and Filoni discuss Star Wars, similarities between characters in The Acolyte and the character Ahsoka Tano, as well as the influence of George Lucas. The clip can be viewed below or on YouTube:

Here are some of the highlights from the brief clip:

"You asking me that question is making me cry"

Filoni simply asking Headland about her show makes her emotional. It makes sense because perhaps his asking her about the show makes it feel real and gives her a realization of 'Wow, this is actually happening. The world is going to see my show.' Headland went on to discuss how she wanted the show to focus on the Sith, which leads them both to talk about how the Sith do not view themselves as evil, the same way Anakin did not view himself as evil during his turn to the dark side.

Not showing characters out of their depth

Filoni brought up how during Star Wars: The Clone Wars, early in Ahsoka Tano's character development, they had planned a moment where Ahsoka is overwhelmed and clearly out of her depth. However, George Lucas said they should cut that part because Ahsoka has been prepared for all this through her Jedi training even at a young age. Headland had a similar moment with the character Jecki in The Acolyte. She said that someone asked, "Wouldn't [Jecki] be scared on her first mission?" But Headland drew on that story from Filoni as an explanation for why she is prepared and not afraid.

The legacy of George Lucas

At the end of the video, they both talked about the legacy of George Lucas and trying to honor that. Filoni spoke about studying the different types of filmmaking that Lucas was inspired by and trying to tap into that. This is evidenced by Filoni's clear Kurosawa influence. Headland also talked about tapping into the feel of a Western movie or samurai film while still trying to make it feel like Star Wars. She also said that what George created is "the North Star."

It is clear that both creators care and think deeply about Star Wars, and there is a good chance that they could both play a large role in shaping what the future of Star Wars looks like in the future.