Star Wars: The Acolyte finally premiered on Disney+ last week and introduced the assassin, Mae Aniseya. But Mae isn’t the only assassin in the franchise, with others like Darth Maul, Fennec Shand, and Jangot Fett, to name a few. However, costume designer Jennifer Bryan reveals one thing that makes Mae "unique" in the Star Wars universe.
In an interview with ComicBook, Bryan discussed her work to create distinct looks for Amandla Stenberg’s two roles as Osha and Mae. But between the two, she admitted Mae’s assassin look was her favorite, considering her assassin style hadn’t been seen in the franchise before.
“I would say Mae-assassin was my favorite because it brought a very unique set of materials and design approach that we hadn't seen in Star Wars before,” she said.
Sure, Star Wars has featured some Samurai references in the past, but one distinct design makes Mae unique: her bamboo breastplate. Bryan also incorporated other elements from a different warrior culture, which she considered the “icon stamp” of her designs for The Acolyte.
“That’s technically, Samurai used bamboo in their breastplates because it's a very strong material,” she explained. “I introduced chain mail, which is from a completely different warrior culture… I would say it would be the icon stamp of my designs for the show for that reason.”
Osha and Mae’s Distinct Looks in The Acolyte
Osha and Mae are identical twins, so it’s hard to tell their differences through their features in The Acolyte. So, to help the viewers differentiate the twin sisters, Bryan revealed how she created their distinct looks. To do that, she consciously treated them as if two different actresses portrayed them.
“That helped me a lot in keeping that differentiation as I designed and created and started to put this look together,” she continued.
It was Bryan's first time taking this approach. Despite her lack of experience handling a project where an actress played two characters who mirrored each other, she was thankful for showrunner Leslye Headland’s guidance.
“But we were, again, guided so wonderfully, my lack of words here because it sort of overtakes me the way [series creator Leslye Headland] was,” she added.
Bryan had nothing but good words for Headland, praising her for being a great collaborator and exchanger of ideas. She couldn’t help but compare Headland to other directors because of her openness to accepting suggestions that allowed Bryan to explore.
“Sometimes some directors are very, not that it's a bad thing, but they can be very finite in their ideas and therefore it may not give you as much room as you'd like to give them some other things to explore,” she revealed. “She was the opposite. She was all about exploration, about what I thought and why.”
That said, Bryan ensured that she could justify herself to Headland when she wanted to go in different directions for Osha and Mae. She has done a good job, as fans can easily determine who Mae and Osha are when they see them on the small screen.
The first two episodes of The Acolyte are available on Disney+, while new episodes come out every Tuesday.
