Director Hanelle Culpepper talks dynamic behind the scenes of The Acolyte

With any of the Star Wars television series, the fandom tends to learn and appreciate more about the inner workings of the production as time goes on. Since the finale, the composer has discussed his work on the score, and showrunner Leslye Headland spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the current state of the series.

In an extensive interview with Collider after the finale, Hanelle M. Culpepper discussed many facets of the episodes she directed. Culpepper helmed the sixth and eighth episodes, "Teach/Corrupt" and "The Acolyte," respectively, and is known for her forward-thinking work and her history-making career. Writer Maggie Lovitt explains Culpepper's place in sci-fi history:

"Not only did Hanelle M. Culpepper direct two of the most-talked about episodes of The Acolyte, but she made history with the series. Culpepper is the first director to direct for both Star Wars and Star Trek television series, which is a remarkable milestone for any director to make, but all the more profound of an achievement for an incredibly talented Black woman who is paving the way in an industry that has, historically, been dominated by white men."

- Maggie Lovitt

Part of the interview covered how collaborative the project was. Lovitt also mentioned an earlier project by Culpepper: How to Stand in Line for Star Wars. Culpepper says that getting to direct a Star Wars project was "a full circle moment" and she "really enjoyed meeting the superfans, as I call them.... and I love that excitement that we all shared and the joy. It was really something special to capture." She then describes how The Acolyte fostered a similar environment of collaboration:

"It was a great environment to be a part of. There's so much that Leslye has to keep straight as far as the canon, the world, and the story, what she wants to do, and how it should play out over the whole season, and hopefully in other seasons if we're lucky enough to get one. She was always willing to take feedback and ideas. I think maybe on day two or three, we had this really great conversation where she took me through her creative vision of the show... and I was able to come in with ideas of what I wanna do with these episodes and themes and stuff like that and how that would influence how I would shoot it."

- Hanelle M. Culpepper

Culpepper prefers this kind of interactive project. She says that the best environment is one where "everybody feels they have creative input into what we're doing... I come in with a vision and a plan, but I'm always open to better ideas, other ideas, whether it comes from the cast or if it comes from the camera operator or from the DP."

This played into the choice to end the season without a rumored kiss. They had shot it, but Culpepper says that "Leslye and I and the cast knew that it didn't feel right."

The episodes that Culpepper directed are arguably the ones most concerned with intuition and personal agency. The series was lucky to have a director so willing to respond to the feedback of so many voices and this is part of what made The Acolyte such an intriguing story arc.