STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE Star Amandla Stenberg Confirms Series Was Designed Around Her Before Being Offered Role

Actress Amandla Stenberg is just released her romantic horror film My Animal, which she is currently doing the rounds to promote. She’s been in the films The Hate U Give, Dear Evan Hansen, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and more, but it all started with a little girl reading The Hunger Games. After reading the first book in the series, the young actress, who had been in two small projects before, decided then and there that she would play the role of Rue in the film. She manifested that part, and now Star Wars is doing the same for her.

The Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte was announced two years ago, and a year later, some of the first news we heard about it was that Stenberg was being cast in the show’s lead role. As it turns out, the concept art for the series was actually made with Stenberg as the prototype, even before she was approached for the role. When asked about that fact by The Hollywood Reporter, she responded:

“Oh God, I have no clue if I’m allowed to talk about this. I haven’t actually been media trained by Lucasfilm yet, so I’m not sure.”

When told that her being a part of the concept art before she was actually cast is a story that many have reported on, she confirmed:

Yeah, that is how it happened. It was a very astounding moment for me.

When the comparison between the actress manifesting her Hunger Games role way back when, and now the most enduring franchise, Star Wars, manifesting her, she replied:

Wow, yeah. Thank you for drawing that gorgeous metaphor for me. That’s a really beautiful way to think about it.

Of course, there’s not much she can say yet about the series or her role, but it’s very cool to hear how humbly she is approaching the cool way her career is playing out.

The story in the series is described as “a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.” The High Republic is set 200 years before the Skywalker Saga begins.

The series stars Amandla Steinberg, Jodie Turner-Smith, Lee Jung-jae, Dean Charle Chapman, and Dafne Keen.

The Acolyte is set to debut on Disney+ on August 11, 2023. Are you looking forward to this show?