Leslye Headland has been telling “Star Wars” stories on screen since she was a teenager. After being ostracized at school for being different, she turned inside herself and began making stop-motion movies with her action figures.
So when she found success in Hollywood as an adult — Headland helped create the 2019 Netflix comedy “Russian Doll,” starring Natasha Lyonne — and got the chance to create an actual “Star Wars” show, it was the realization of a lifelong dream.
And the chance of humiliating failure. On a galactic scale.
“I called Lucasfilm and after a lot of conversations, I found myself ready to be on a show – extremely excited, my ultimate career goal, the culmination of my fandom,” Headland said. “At the same time, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. There's a lot of pressure. It's extreme. I've never done something this big before.”
Headland's show, “retainer”, will debut on Disney+ on June 4. Costing about $180 million (for eight episodes) and taking four years to make, it attempts to pull off two feats at once: pleasing old-school “Star Wars” fans — who may seem unrepresentative — while telling an entirely new story that requires no prior knowledge of “Star Wars” and that showcases women and people of color.
For loyalists, “The Acolyte” offers plenty of Jedi, a staple of the franchise that other live-action “Star Wars” TV shows have shown little or nothing about. The opening scene of “The Acolyte” takes place in an eatery filled with colorful aliens, reminiscent of the Mos Eisley cantina from the first “Star Wars” movie in 1977.
Other slogans for original fans — we see you, we haven’t forgotten about you — are sprinkled into the dialogue: “May the force be with you” and “I have a bad feeling about this” appear in early appearances.
At the same time, “The Acolyte” features what some call the “New Star Wars,” an era defined by diversity and expansion beyond the Skywalker saga that began with Disney's purchase of the franchise in 2012.
Power Stenberg Starred as a fierce warrior who has a complicated relationship with a Jedi Master Lee Jung-jae from “Squid Game,” in her first English-speaking role. Jodie Turner-Smith (“Queen & Slim”) plays the lesbian leader of a royal group of witches, while Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto (“The Good Place”) appears as a shady businessman. In one of her most action-oriented roles since “The Matrix,” Carrie-Anne Moss plays a determined Jedi named Master Indara.
“The Acolyte” also breaks new ground behind the camera: While women have directed episodes of shows like “The Mandalorian” And “Obi-Wan Kenobi,Headland, 43, is the first person to create the “Star Wars” series.
“It was like working on a razor’s edge,” she said during a Zoom interview, pushing her oversized glasses higher up on her nose. “You’re thinking, ‘This is what people want from “Star Wars.”’ This is what people want No 'It can mess with your mind.'
He added, “During the creative process, as an artist I had to forgive myself for falling off the razor – as long as I could get back up. That was my promise to myself.”
When any new “Star Wars” project is revealed to the public — Disney announced “The Acolyte” in 2020 — fans scour for information and pick apart whatever they find. That's part of what makes “Star Wars” so powerful: People care. But attention also creates problems.
Rumors can turn into facts. For example, some “Star Wars” fans concerned about Headland's show “Breaking canon” or tampering with story lines already established in the franchise — the ultimate “Star Wars” crime. Not like that.
In fact, Headland chose to place “The Acolyte” at the beginning of the “Star Wars” timeline so that canonical issues would be minimal. The show is a mystery-thriller — someone is killing Jedis — set in a time when the Jedi are at their peak, an era before “The Phantom Menace” that has been depicted in “Star Wars” novels but never on screen. The only character in “The Acolyte” who previously existed anywhere in the franchise is a Jedi Master from the novels named Vernestra Rowe. (Headland cast his wife, Rebecca Henderson, in the role, giving her a lightsaber that turn into a whip,
“Leslie wanted the show to be accessible — no homework required prior to viewing,” he said Jocelyn BiohGhanaian-American author. Headland included Bioh in the writing team for “The Acolyte” specifically because Bioh was not a “Star Wars” devotee.
“She asked me what I knew about 'Star Wars,' and my answer was, 'Harrison Ford walking around in space with a giant dog?'” Bioh recalled with a laugh. “And Leslie said, 'You're hired.'”
“She wanted to potentially invite new fans — people like me,” Bayoh said.
The first “Acolyte” trailer, released in March, was viewed 51.3 million times in the first 24 hours. A record for any live-action “Star Wars” seriesAccording to Lucasfilm, several other films are also involved, including “The Mandalorian.” A sneak peek of “Acolyte” released in theaters in early May highlighted the show's unique martial arts sequences; fan sites instantly recognized the fighting style Force Fu,
But a vocal, primal portion of “Star Wars” fans have resisted in a predictable way.
One comment on the trailer for “The Acolyte” wrote, “Why are so many women, girls, and minority characters increasingly dominating the ranks of the Jedi?” Others have expressed a similar worldview.
It’s a version of the same misogyny and racism that greeted Rey, the female Jedi (played by Daisy Ridley) who made her debut in “The Force Awakens” in 2015, and who Kelly Marie Tran After stepping away from social media, she began working on “The Last Jedi” (2017). Kathleen Kennedy, who runs Lucasfilm, has also worked on “South Park.” attack hard He was featured in an episode last year. The cartoon showed Kennedy repeatedly giving the same feedback to the “Star Wars” producers: “Put a girl in it! Make her lame and gay!”
Some trolls have named the chain of headlands “The Vokelite”.
In a brief telephone interview, Kennedy held firm his support for “The Acolyte.” “I believe all people should be represented in storytelling,” he said. “This is an easy decision for me.”
“Working within these huge franchises now, with the level of social media and expectations — it's scary,” Kennedy added. “I think Leslie has struggled a little bit with that. I think a lot of women who step into 'Star Wars' struggle a little bit more with that. Because the fan base is so male-dominated, sometimes they get attacks that can be quite personal.”
Headland has tried to limit her exposure to online conversations, whether good or bad, and instead relies on friends for “weather reports.”
“As a fan, I know how disappointing some of the 'Star Wars' stories have been in the past,” Headland said, declining to give specific examples. “I've felt it myself.”
She then sent a text message. “I stand by my empathy for 'Star Wars' fans,” she wrote. “But I want to be clear. Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism, or hate speech … I do not consider them a fan.”
“Star Wars” projects are not known for individual or singular filmmaking. Production and marketing budgets are enormous; the story must appeal to as wide an audience as possible to make the numbers work.
Rian Johnson, who directed “The Last Jedi,” told the New York Times In 2017, he said he didn't even try to put his own stamp on the franchise. He said, “It would be bad news if you came in saying, 'How can I make this my own?'”
However, Kennedy inspired Headland to do just that with “The Acolyte”.
Kennedy told her in 2019 in response to an initial script, “You've written a great 'Star Wars' show. Now go write a Leslye Headland show.”
Kennedy had read a play by Headland, “Cult of lovewhich explores the complex relationships between siblings. “It's about their personal experience,” Kennedy said. “And it was so well done and incredibly emotional. I remember reading it and saying, 'Leslie, this is what you should keep in mind when you're writing this story for us.'”
Explaining how Headland took Kennedy's advice would spoil a major plot point in “The Acolyte.” Let's just say that Headland escalated the conflict between the characters.
“My relationship with my youngest sister is very strained, and I think one of the reasons it's strained is because we both see each other as the bad guy,” Headland said. “And if I was going to tell a story about bad guys, I felt it should start with a family relationship where one person is adamant about what's right and the other person is adamant about what's right.”
“We don't talk,” Headland said. “I think it would be a surprise to him.”
She would say no more on the subject, except to emphasize that she has a good relationship with her other sister, who helped create a visual presentation that Headland used to pitch “The Acolyte” to Lucasfilm. (Headland described her concept at the meeting as “‘Frozen’ meets ‘Kill Bill’.” Kennedy immediately accepted it.)
Show star Stenberg said, “Leslie is really driven by emotion, heart and relationships. So even though our show is within the 'Star Wars' universe and set in outer space, in a galaxy far, far away, it's really a family drama.”
Headland directed the indie films (“virgin,sleeping with other people”) and served as showrunner for “Russian Doll,” the hit Netflix comedy about a New Yorker (Natasha Lyonne) caught in a cycle of reincarnation. But she had never managed a big-budget production.
What she lacked in experience she made up for with her fondness for “Star Wars.” Headland became a “Star Wars” superfan as a teenager. It was a fraught period in her life, or at least it felt that way to her.
“I had no friends,” she recalled. “I used to eat my lunch in the bathroom.”
She found solace among the misfits in George Lucas's space operas, sought out books such as Timothy Zahn's “Heir to the Empire” (1991) and collected action figures. When Lucas released “special editions” of his first three “Star Wars” films, Headland lined up at her local theater on opening night. A few years earlier, she had Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for Princess Leia tattooed on her right arm.
“'Star Wars' has been a part of who I am for as long as I can remember,” Headland said. “So working on this show has been a dream. I had to put my effort in.”
She paused for a moment. “If it doesn't work out, it will be because of me,” she said. “It's really scary to think about it.”
“No, no – I won't go there,” she said, climbing back onto the razor's edge.