Actress Amandla Stenberg claimed on Thursday that her new "Star Wars" TV show "The Acolyte" could usher in "inclusion and safety" for Black science-fiction fans.
Stenberg took part in Entertainment Weekly’s podcast "Dagobah Dispatch" alongside co-star Lee Jung-jae and showrunner Leslye Headland to offer hints about the series, which is set to premiere in 2024. While she couldn’t provide details about her character or the story, Stenberg praised the series for being "part of the wave" to provide a "safe space" for people of color.
"When it comes to the world of fantasy and sci-fi in general, it hasn't felt like a safe space always for people of color," Stenberg said. "And it's been a world that I've always deeply loved and been invested in. So, to be in any way, shape, or form a part of the wave that is ushering in inclusion and safety for Black nerds, it's my dream come true."
She added, "You see the progress that ‘Star Wars’ is making across the board in all of the streaming series."
Entertainment Weekly also spoke to other members of the cast including Dafne Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith and Charlie Barnett. The actors further discussed the importance of diversity in the show.
"That was definitely a conversation we've had on set," Keen said. "It's really refreshing to walk onto a set as diverse as this one in every sense. We've all come from different corners of the world and it's really great to get so many different people from different backgrounds to create this thing together."
Barnett commented, "I don't think I could have ever imagined myself as a Jedi. Because I was not reflected for so many times throughout these films in the past. So to see such a diverse group now, I think it's going be a really impactful. It's gonna be [a] cool moment for me for sure, I can tell you that."
Turner-Smith said agreed with Stenberg that the show is "part of a wave of more inclusive and beautifully represented Star Wars shows," and "that felt really cool."
"And I felt the importance of that, especially in some of the stuff that I got to where everyone really was excited about what they were seeing and what that would maybe mean for different fans — fans that don't necessarily look like what you normally think the traditional Star Wars fan looks like. Because if there's anything that I learned from this show, it's that the Star Wars fan is varied," Turner-Smith said.
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The "Star Wars" brand has come under fire in recent years for appearing to prioritize progressive politics. In Jan. 2021, the "Star Wars" Twitter account defended "The High Republic Show" web series host Krystina Arielle after old tweets of her attacking White people resurfaced.
"Just a reminder that White Women are just as complicit in the upholding and enforcing White Supremacy," Arielle tweeted in 2020.
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The company Lucasfilm also announced later that year that Disney’s "The Mandalorian" actress Gina Carano was dropped from the show following a tweet comparing today's political divide to the events in Nazi Germany. This occurred despite series star Pedro Pascal making a similar comment in 2018, leading fans to believe that the decision was because of Carano’s conservative politics.
