Posted in: Disney+, Preview, Star Wars, streaming, TV | Tagged: lucasfilm, preview, star wars, The Acolyte

The Acolyte Star on Playing a Lightsaber-Slinging Wookie Jedi Master

The Acolyte star Joonas Suotamo on playing lightsaber-wielding Wookie Jedi Master Kelnacca, tapping into his Chewbacca lessons, and more.

This June, Leslye Headland's (Russian Bride) Amandla Stenberg (The Eddy) & Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game)-starring Star Wars: The Acolyte will take us back to the beginning of how it all began – with the mystery-thriller taking viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan (Stenberg) reunites with her Jedi Master (Jung-jae) to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated. With two months to go until the prequel series hits Disney+, we're getting some insight into one of the characters who's been getting a ton of attention since they were first revealed – Joonas Suotamo's lightsaber-slinging Wookie Jedi Master Kelnacca. While Suotamo is no stranger to Wookies – having taken over portraying Chewbacca for Solo and the sequel trilogy from Peter Mayhew – the upcoming series is giving him a chance to live out a childhood dream.

"Ever since [I was] five years old, I've been fantasizing about being a Jedi, like every kid. When the word 'Jedi' was first mentioned [in talks for 'The Acolyte'], I felt really excited – like a little kid who finally gets his favourite toy on his birthday," Suotamo shared. For the actor, that meant tapping into what he learned during his time as Chewbacca. "Peter [Mayhew] told me right from the get-go that Chewbacca is a mime character. The audience doesn't understand what he's saying exactly, but they [interpret] his mannerisms, and every little twitch, and every little movement, and roar," Suotamo explained. But while there were some core principles that the actor wanted to maintain, it was also important for him to ensure that Kelnacca was its own unique character.

"Kelnacca being a Jedi – that sets certain expectations to how you carry yourself in the line of duty. There are certain assumptions that can be made as to whether he lets his emotions take control of him to the extent that Chewbacca would, for example. It was very interesting to bake that into the character and try to personify that on screen," he shared. As for there being other Jedi Wookie characters in other media – for example, Padawan Burryaga from the "High Republic" stories – Suotamo hasn't checked them out but did touch base with some of the creators. "I was aware of the character, and I talked to the High Republic writers at a convention," he revealed. "I also wanted to differentiate Kelnacca from Burryaga and not copy too much from those stories."

The Acolyte Honors/Challenges "Star Wars" Ethos: Amandla Stenberg

During an interview with C Magazine, Stenberg shared how Headland pitched to series to her. "All the artwork was conceptualized with my face, and Leslye was like, 'So I've been working on this for about three or four years for you. I don't know what I'm going to do if you don't do it. No pressure," Stenberg revealed. "So I was sent to the moon, of course."

Filmed mostly at Shinfield Studios in Berkshire, England, Stenberg found the experience quite different from past productions. "The crews are so hardcore, they're so hardworking, and it's very kind of hierarchical and competitive, and people work their asses off. It's very different, I think, than what I've experienced on most American sets," she explained. Another big difference between The Acolyte and Stenberg's previous work? "I have a really, really heavy load in this show, an abnormal load," she adds.

While she's understandably under strict "no spoilers" watch, Stenberg was able to discuss the show's thematic goals and the perspective that it's taking. "In the context of the Star Wars universe, it's a time of great peace, theoretically. It's also a time of an institution, and it's a time in which conceptions around the Force are very strict. And I think what we're trying to explore within our show is when an institution has a singular conception of how power can be used…we try to provide a lot of different perspectives and answers to that question," Stenberg explained. "The idea is to kind of honor the ethos of Star Wars and ideas around the Force and also challenge them, hopefully harmoniously."

Disney+, Lucasfilm, and Headland's The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers), Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Margarita Levieva (Revenge, The Deuce), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), and Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo as the Wookie Jedi Kel Naka. Headland directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102) – with directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) rounding out the lineup of directors. Along with Headland, Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef will executive produce (with Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson set to produce).

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