Amandla Stenberg breaks down her impressive fight training for “The Acolyte”
The actor headlines the upcoming Star Wars show, set about 100 years before the events of “The Phantom Menace.”
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The Star Wars galaxy has a long history of impressive action scenes — from the “Duel of the Fates” lightsaber battle in The Phantom Menace to Rey and Kylo’s throne room showdown in The Last Jedi. Now, a new show is hoping to join the pantheon of jaw-dropping Star Wars action.
Hunger Games alum Amandla Stenberg headlines The Acolyte (premiering June 4 on Disney+), an ambitious thriller set about 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. The eight-episode series is set during a time of relative peace, when the Jedi loom large throughout the galaxy and the Sith have diminished to the point of becoming legend. Stenberg stars as a former Jedi Padawan named Mae, who finds herself embroiled in a mysterious conspiracy when several Jedi start turning up dead.
Christian Black/Lucasfilm Ltd. Amandla Stenberg in 'The Acolyte'
In an interview for Entertainment Weekly’s Summer TV Preview, Stenberg opened up about her grueling training process, explaining that she spent weeks preparing to play a former Padawan. Before production even started, Stenberg began studying Wing Chun, just to build a basic martial arts foundation. She then arrived on set about six weeks early, and she spent long days training with her stunt doubles Cassie Jo Craig and Kellina Rutherford, perfecting basic punches and kicks before graduating to complicated stunt sequences.
After all, Stenberg says, she wanted to make sure her action abilities were on par with some of her Star Wars predecessors.
“I was such a pain in the ass for producers when I got there,” Stenberg says with a laugh. “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. I remember saying something along the lines of: ‘Well, Hayden Christensen trained for this amount of weeks, and I’m only training for this amount of weeks!’ And they were like, ‘It’s going to be fine. You’re going to work with your master, and it’s going to be okay.’”
Lucasfilm Ltd. Amandla Stenberg behind the scenes of 'The Acolyte'
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Stenberg threw herself into training, working with assistant fight coordinator Lu Junchang, who essentially served as her own real-life Jedi master. Before long, she could execute entire long fight sequences — like the standout duel in the Acolyte trailer, where she faces off against a Jedi master played by The Matrix star Carrie-Anne Moss.
“It was so rewarding,” Stenberg says. “I’d never really had a relationship to martial arts before, but my master was very patient with me and just a delight. He guided me firmly but with a lot of joy. As we continued filming, I got faster and faster at learning sequences, 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.”
Lucasfilm Ltd. Amandla Stenberg training for 'The Acolyte'
The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland developed the series with Stenberg in mind, and during their very first meeting, the writer showed Stenberg early concept art imagining her in the role. “I think I flew out of my body,” the actress admits. “It’s not something that you anticipate happening to you ever. I had chills and tingles all over.” Stenberg adds that she was particularly intrigued by Headland’s idea of a show set long before the birth of Anakin Skywalker — and the rise of the Empire.
“We exist in a period of time before that evil dictatorship takes a hold of the galaxy, so there’s space ideologically to think: What does the world look like before the Force is being utilized in that evil way?” Stenberg explains. “What preempts that kind of societal shift?”
Lucasfilm Ltd. Amandla Stenberg training for 'The Acolyte'
And even after weeks of training and preparation, Stenberg admits that she still “geeked out” once she arrived on set. She particularly loved wandering around the main Jedi temple on Coruscant, where the Jedi council meets.
“That’s where so many iconic sequences that we’ve witnessed with Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu and Yoda are located,” she says with awe. “There was one day we were in pre-production, and I took a nap in the Jedi temple. 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.”
The Acolyte premieres June 4 on Disney+.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.