Star Wars has released several trailers and teasers for its upcoming new series, The Acolyte, and they hint at one thing: the show will be full of action. But if one character will lead the fight, it’s Amandla Stenberg’s Mae. From her battle against Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and face-off with Jedi Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), Mae proves she’s a formidable fighter. However, before Stenberg managed to perfect her fighting scenes, she revealed the intense training she had gone through.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stenberg shared her grueling training process for The Acolyte to prepare for her role as a former Padawan. As a starter, she studied Wing Chun, a form of Southern Chinese kung fu, to have a basic martial arts foundation. She also started filming six weeks earlier than her co-stars and spent long days training with her stunt doubles Cassie Jo Craig and Kellina Rutherford. From basic punches to kicks, the singer-actress began doing complicated stunts.
“I was such a pain in the ass for producers when I got there,” she said. “I’m just a really analytical person, and I have to dive deep into everything and gather as many pieces of information as possible in order to not freak out, especially when it comes to taking on something like Star Wars.”
Stenberg knew Hayden Christensen, who plays the iconic Anakin Skywalker in the franchise, only trained for weeks. And though she trained longer than him, she got the assurance of her team that everything would be fine as she worked with her "own master."
True enough, she has her real-life Jedi Master in the form of the assistant fight coordinator Lu Junchang. With his help, she managed to execute long fight scenes in no time, like her duel with Indara in The Acolyte trailer.
“As we continued filming, I got faster and faster at learning sequences,” she explained. “So, by the end of the show, oftentimes I was learning sequences on the spot, and then we would film them. It was incredible for me to acquire that ability.”
Stenberg has Junchang to thank for. Though she knew nothing about martial arts before, his guidance helped her do her fighting scenes perfectly. He found his patience and supervision a delight.
“It was so rewarding,” she continued.
Amandla Stenberg Shares Excitement Over Star Wars: The Acolyte
Stenberg admitted that she “flew out” of her body after The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland developed the series with her in mind. In fact, during their very first meeting, the showrunner showed her an early concept art with her playing as Mae.
“It’s not something that you anticipate happening to you ever. I had chills and tingles all over,” she added.
What intrigued the Hunger Games alumna more was Headland’s idea of doing a series set long before Anakin was born and the rise of the Empire happened. Hence, the show would try to answer questions like what the galaxy far, far away looked like before the dark side used the Force and what incited society to shift.
She also shared her excitement over The Acolyte. Though she had already gone through weeks of training and preparation, she still couldn’t help but “geek out” when she arrived on set. She loved to wander around the main Jedi Temple on Coruscant, though she found herself taking a nap there.
“There was one day we were in pre-production, and I took a nap in the Jedi temple,” she revealed. “It wasn’t used for a short amount of time, so I laid down there on the marble. That’s when I really freaked out.”
Stenberg just proved that The Acolyte will have more action sequences. This makes the show more intriguing and builds excitement even more.
The Acolyte’s two-episode premiere is set to release on June 4, 2024, on Disney+.
