Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: disney, jodie turner-smith, Leslye Headland, LGBTQ, Margarita Levieva, Star Wars: The Acolyte, The Acolyte

The Acolyte: Leslye Headland Responds to "Gayest Star Wars" Comment

Leslye Headland on The Acolyte being called the "gayest Star Wars," how some fans aren't "really paying attention to this story," and more.

The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland embraces Star Wars fans from every corner of the community who embrace her show, which includes the LGBTQ+ community she's a part of with her spouse, actress Rebecca Henderson, she cast as Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh, a character introduced in Star Wars: The High Republic. As the first openly LGBTQ+ person to create a live-action Star Wars project, Headland, who worked on the series following her success on the Peacock series Russian Doll, spoke up about the subtext fans misinterpreting the narrative she established in the episode "Destiny" and star Amandla Stenberg, who identifies as non-binary.

The Acolyte: Leslye Headland Responds to "Gayest Star Wars" Comment

During the Los Angeles junket (via The Hollywood Reporter), a journalist suggested The Acolyte is "arguably the gayest Star Wars by a considerable margin" to the show's creator. "I was surprised by the question. Amandla and I just burst out laughing because that's our knee-jerk reaction to being asked that, but to be honest, I don't know what the term 'gay' means in that sense," Headland said. "I don't believe that I've created queer, with a capital Q, content."

In "Destiny," the Aniseya twins, Mae & Osha, were born to two moms, Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva). The two are witches as part of a coven, but some fans believe they're a lesbian couple. The coven uses the Thread, which is their interpretation of the Force. While it's implied, never confirmed, that Aniseya used her Thread powers to impregnate Koril with the twins, Headland says their relationship is more circumstantial. "They're in a matriarchal society. As a gay woman, I knew it would read that their sexuality is queer, but there also aren't any men in their community," she explains. "So a closeness between the two of them would be natural. It seemed plot-driven." She adds: "I would say it's really reductive to call them lesbians. I think it means you're not really paying attention to this story."

Using the Force to conceive children isn't a new concept as Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) was explained to be born from The Force with his mother, Shmi Skywalker (Pernilla August), in 1999's The Phantom Menace. Headland stresses she's not denying anything that resonates with the LGBTQ+ fans. "I'm proud of being a gay woman who's accomplished this feat, and certainly, if my content is called queer, I don't want to disown whatever queerness is in the show. I would be proud to create something that inspired queer people."

For more including Headland speaking out on the vitriol from the polarizing sect of Star Wars fandom, you can check out the entire piece.

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