The Acolyte writer and showrunner Leslye Headland has spoken at length about the influences and ideas behind her upcoming Disney+ series.
Headland previewed The Acolyte for Vanity Fair's cover story, giving new details about the "mystery thriller" and how she approached the project, considering it is the first screen story told from the High Republic era. She affirmed that she is very familiar with the timeline and that she had ambitions to explore a different period in the galaxy far, far away.
"The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea," Headland admitted. "And I said, 'I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet.' They were very enthusiastic. It wasn't that they didn't want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters."
"I was coming at it as a fan who was much more into the RPG [role-playing games] that the Extended Universe feeds on," she added. "I knew the timeline really well. And I was like, 'I think if you want to explore Star Wars from the perspective of the bad guys, the best time to do it is when the bad guys are wildly outnumbered. When they actually are essentially the underdogs, for lack of a better term.' So this would be that era."
As well as exploring the Expanded Universe and an altogether different era onscreen, Headland was keen to tap into more personal stories. She reflected on the cinematic influences that went into the creation of Star Wars, including Westerns and Akira Kurosawa samurai films, and revealed that she found herself drawn to martial arts movies.
"I actually went more toward martial arts films, and storylines that are a little bit more personal and less global and galactic," Headland said. "Those warriors were on missions that were deeply personal, with people feeling wronged and having to make it right. Wuxia Films and martial arts films from King Hu and the Shaw Brothers, like Come Drink With Me and Touch Of Zen. They're monks that are also martial arts heroes."
Headland developed the idea with Lucasfilm execs Michelle Rejwan and Rayne Roberts who recognized the opportunity to delve into a mystery thriller that will explore "a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emergent dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era" — which is one of the few tidbits we were given about the series when it was announced.
"What's so exciting about those [influencing] stories is that you don't always know exactly who the bad guys are and who the good guys are," Headland added, teasing one of the potential mysteries that viewers will ponder over. "You're not quite sure whether you can trust the heroine in this case as a result of that."
The Acolyte is set during the High Republic era, roughly 100 years before the Skywalker Saga. This is the same era that's been the backdrop of the various High Republic novels and comics, though those stories explore various facets of a conflict that unfolds about 200 years before the movies, sparking speculation amongst fans over whether Darth Plagueis might appear.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Thumbnail image credit: Ario Anindito/Grzegorz Krysiński via Lucasfilm.
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Headland previewed The Acolyte for Vanity Fair's cover story, giving new details about the "mystery thriller" and how she approached the project, considering it is the first screen story told from the High Republic era. She affirmed that she is very familiar with the timeline and that she had ambitions to explore a different period in the galaxy far, far away.
"The truth is that I, as a major mega fan, came to them with this idea," Headland admitted. "And I said, 'I think the best place to put this is in an era you guys have not quite explored yet.' They were very enthusiastic. It wasn't that they didn't want to explore that [existing] world, but I think that they already were because The Mandalorian and a lot of the other television projects were really relying on legacy characters."
"I was coming at it as a fan who was much more into the RPG [role-playing games] that the Extended Universe feeds on," she added. "I knew the timeline really well. And I was like, 'I think if you want to explore Star Wars from the perspective of the bad guys, the best time to do it is when the bad guys are wildly outnumbered. When they actually are essentially the underdogs, for lack of a better term.' So this would be that era."
As well as exploring the Expanded Universe and an altogether different era onscreen, Headland was keen to tap into more personal stories. She reflected on the cinematic influences that went into the creation of Star Wars, including Westerns and Akira Kurosawa samurai films, and revealed that she found herself drawn to martial arts movies.
"I actually went more toward martial arts films, and storylines that are a little bit more personal and less global and galactic," Headland said. "Those warriors were on missions that were deeply personal, with people feeling wronged and having to make it right. Wuxia Films and martial arts films from King Hu and the Shaw Brothers, like Come Drink With Me and Touch Of Zen. They're monks that are also martial arts heroes."
Headland developed the idea with Lucasfilm execs Michelle Rejwan and Rayne Roberts who recognized the opportunity to delve into a mystery thriller that will explore "a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emergent dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era" — which is one of the few tidbits we were given about the series when it was announced.
"What's so exciting about those [influencing] stories is that you don't always know exactly who the bad guys are and who the good guys are," Headland added, teasing one of the potential mysteries that viewers will ponder over. "You're not quite sure whether you can trust the heroine in this case as a result of that."
The Acolyte is set during the High Republic era, roughly 100 years before the Skywalker Saga. This is the same era that's been the backdrop of the various High Republic novels and comics, though those stories explore various facets of a conflict that unfolds about 200 years before the movies, sparking speculation amongst fans over whether Darth Plagueis might appear.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Thumbnail image credit: Ario Anindito/Grzegorz Krysiński via Lucasfilm.
Continue reading...