Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: disney, Lee Jung-Jae, Leslye Headland, lucasfilm, star wars, Star Wars: The Acolyte, The Acolyte

The Acolyte Star Lee Jung-jae Shocked "Squid Game" Inspired Casting

Lee Jung-jae on Leslye Headland casting him as Jedi Master Sol in Disney+'s Star Wars series The Acolyte after seeing him in Squid Game.

When Leslye Headland cast Lee Jung-jae as Jedi Master Sol in The Acolyte, it took the Korean actor by surprise since it would be his first role on American television, not to mention his first English-speaking one. It did help that he's a lifelong Star Wars fan. The series, which takes place about 100 years before The Phantom Menace, is set at the end of the High Republic era as Sol is trying to investigate a series of murders related and in pursuit of a person of interest, Mae (Amandla Stenberg), an assassin with a bitter grudge. Jung-jae spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on found himself in a role of a lifetime.

The Acolyte Star Lee Jung-jae on How His Role in 'Squid Game' Led to the Star Wars Series

"I was actually quite surprised when Leslye said that she saw Master Sol from my acting in 'Squid Game' because I feel like the two characters are so different. So I was very curious about what made her feel that way," Lee said through an interpreter. In Squid Game, which became a Korean import megahit for Netflix, Lee played a struggling father who fell into gambling debt while battling addiction to try to create a better life for his daughter. It was the compassion that helped drive Headland to cast Lee in a similar parental role but for the young Jedi Padawans. "I do feel like both of my characters in 'Squid Game' and 'The Acolyte' embody this kindness and this desire to live in harmony with others and help others. So if I had to think of what she saw in me from Squid Game, then that would be it."

Lee admits he drew inspiration from Liam Neeson's portrayal of Qui-Gon Jinn from the 1999 George Lucas film while working with two dialect coaches to perform in English. "I would say that we all kind of crafted this role together," he said. The actor also understands to show enough on screen for audiences while maintaining the poker face stoicism of the Jedi with the help of Headland. "There are a lot of elements of mystery within 'The Acolyte.' So, of course, I didn't want to show too much emotion through my character, but at the same time, you don't want the audience to think, 'Oh, what is this guy thinking?' We didn't want him to be too stoic to where the audience is not able to understand his motives, so that was the most important part in acting as Master Sol."

New episodes of The Acolyte, which also stars Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, Joonas Suotamo, Charlie Bennett, Carrie-Anne Moss, Rebecca Henderson, and Dean-Charles Chapman, stream Tuesdays on Disney+.

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