Now she probably does, as she takes on the titular Jedi trainee role in The Acolyte, her introduction to George Lucas’ Star Warsuniverse, which he sold to Disney in 2012 for $4 billion. “I have a really, really heavy load in this show, an abnormal load,” she says. Shot largely at Shinfield Studios in Berkshire, England, a new facility comprising 18 soundstages, it follows The Mandalorian, Andor, and Ashoka in the line of spin-offs commissioned for Disney+ in the age of streaming, which has seen huge budgets aimed at episodic shows over two-hour cinematic releases. “The crews are so hard core, they’re so hardworking, and it’s very kind of hierarchical and competitive, and people work their asses off,” she says. “It’s very different, I think, than what I’ve experienced on most American sets.”
Stenberg can’t share too much — or anything, really — about the plot of The Acolyte because Lucasfilm’s NDAs are notoriously restrictive. (“They’re already hacking into my phone right now. They’re listening,” she jokes.) What she can say is that it takes place in the High Republic era before Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, which was released in 1999 and grossed just shy of $1 billion worldwide. It’s a prequel to the prequels, if you like — Lucas famously started his epic tale in 1977 on Episode IV: A New Hope.
“In the context of the Star Wars universe, it’s a time of great peace, theoretically,” Stenberg says. “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. The idea is to kind of honor the ethos of Star Wars and ideas around the Force and also challenge them, hopefully harmoniously.”
