Amandla Stenberg, who played the dual lead roles of Force-sensitive "twins" Osha and Mae in The Acolyte, has broken her silence on Disney+'s latest Star Wars series being cancelled, and it sounds like she feels the negative backlash did contribute to Lucasfilm's decision to some extent.
Reports have indicated that the studio decided not to renew the show for a second season because of declining viewership, but Stenberg believes that a "rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language" contributed to the overall negative perception of the project.
“It’s not a huge shock for me [that it was canceled]. Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality but for those who aren’t aware there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced ... when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it. That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language towards us ... this really affected me when I first got the job because it’s just not something, even though I anticipated it happening, it’s not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it’s happening to you.”
“It has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe ... And I just want to let those people know out there who supported us in that way, and supported us vocally in the face of all of the vitriol that we received, and the kind of the targeted attack I would say we received by the alt-right, just that you were deeply loved and appreciated, and it made this job all the worthwhile for me"
"And I have to thank Lesyle Headland ... I just [frick]ing love that bitch ... one of the best people in the world ... she's so incredibly talented and unique ... I will love this experience with her forever"
It's not hard to understand where Stenberg is coming from, but if The Acolyte was a massive success for Lucasfilm/Disney, would any amount of fan backlash really have made that much difference? That said, we did see a dramatic shift in plans for the Star Wars sequel trilogy following the response to The Last Jedi, so who knows?
You can check out Stenberg's video below.
How do you feel about The Acolyte's cancellation? Drop us a comment down below.
In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.
Headland also directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102). Directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) round out the directing duties on the series.
"I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith," Headland told EW in a recent interview. "That was kind of my dream Star Wars idea. But it felt like the time period to do that in would be something pre-Phantom Menace. That seemed to be the most interesting trajectory for the Sith: How did the Sith go from the Rule of Two and being quote-unquote 'extinct' to Palpatine coming into power without the Jedi knowing about it?"
Award-winning composer Michael Abels, known for his work on Get Out and Us, scored The Acolyte.