Warning: Spoilers follow for the first two episodes of
If you’ve seen Russian Doll then you’ll know that The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland likes to blow our minds and twist our expectations as much as possible. So when she was announced as the showrunner of a Disney+ Star Wars series, expectations were high. And now that the first two episodes have dropped, it’s clear that Headland is still up to her mind-bending tricks.
In the two-episode premiere of the newest entry in the Star Wars Universe, the series introduces a massive reveal that was somehow kept under wraps until the show debuted: The Acolyte’s star, Amandla Stenberg, isn’t playing one role but two. The character that was teased in the trailers, Mae, is actually one half of a set of twins — both played by Stenberg — the other being our actual in-character, the courageous ex-Jedi mechnik Osha.
It’s rare these days that a project of this size can still surprise viewers, but The Acolyte does just that. The massive twist was always a part of Headland’s plan, but it evolved as she worked on the show and found her creative groove.
“It’s interesting because I had pitched them originally just as sisters,” Headland tells IGN. “But once I had gotten the job, the more that I worked on it, it felt like exploring the Light and the Dark Side and the balance or imbalance between those two things, it felt more interesting to me that the sisters were twins.”
Later, Headland made an intriguing discovery that seemed to cement her new vision for Mae and Osha.
“That being said, I found out later that Kathleen Kennedy is a twin, which I didn’t know at the time,” says Headland. “So, obviously, she was onboard with that idea.”
For Stenberg, crafting the dual performance was all about defining how their life as twins had shaped both Mae and Osha, and working out how to showcase that as a performer.
“Well, twins are so fascinating, so the first thing I really had to think about is what kinds of twins are they?” says the actress. “There are some twins who feel incredibly identical visually, but also in their mannerisms and their personalities and their spirits. … And because this was built with the intention and purpose of exploring the Light and Dark Side of the Force, I felt like it would actually be great to differentiate them from each other. And then also just from a storytelling perspective, I thought that would just be more fun to watch.”
Stenberg also teased that as the show goes on we’ll learn more about Osha and Mae and their connection to the Force.
“So I often thought about the Light and Dark Side of the Force and what we could convey about the Force through these two physical manifestations of the Force,” she says. “And later, I think you’ll learn more about that. And some of the choices that I made will make even more sense, hopefully.”
The action begins after the death of a Jedi at the hands of Mae,…