The Acolyte Stars Jodie Turner-Smith & Rebecca Henderson Talk Witchcraft And Vernestra Rwoh

Summary The Acolyte dives into the High Republic era, introducing a new era and genre with martial arts influence.

Mother Aniseya's Force-sensitive witches on Brendock challenge Jedi ideals in resistance to persecution.

The series showcases new sides of characters like Vernestra Rwoh a hundred years after the High Republic novels.

In The Acolyte, which is set long before the Skywalker Saga, a former Padawan and her Jedi Master are reunited after a disturbing new threat brings them back together. At the end of the High Republic, the Jedi are peacekeepers and the galaxy is prosperous, but an insidious darkness is beginning to make its way across the galaxy. As the Jedi Master and his Padawan investigate, they discover that this threat is more dangerous than they ever could have predicted with ties entangling them all together.

The Acolyte is set at the end of the High Republic era. The High Republic has only been seen in novels and comics thus far, but creator Leslye Headland is bringing it to the screen for the first time. The Acolyte is not only exploring a new era, but a new genre within Star Wars, as well as a mystery thriller with major martial arts influence. This series is expected to delve into the Dark Side of the Force and a new side of the Jedi like no other movie or series has before.

Related Everything You Need To Know Before Watching Star Wars: The Acolyte Star Wars' next TV show, The Acolyte, will come to Disney+ on June 4. Here's everything you need to know ahead of this epic Star Wars series.

Screen Rant interviewed The Acolyte stars Jodie Turner-Smith and Rebecca Henderson about the new Star Wars series. They praise Headland's passion and active involvement in every aspect of creating the series. Henderson also teases Vernestra Rwoh's growth after the books and Turner-Smith teases how her witches stand out from the Nightsisters.

Jodie Turner-Smith Explains Why The Jedi Are Afraid Of Her & Her Coven Of Witches

Image via Disney+

Witches aren't new to Star Wars, with the Nightsisters being a prominent antagonist for the Jedi throughout The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Ahsoka. Turner-Smith's character, Mother Aniseya, is the leader of a coven of Force-sensitive witches, but make no mistake, these are not the Nightsisters. She explained the motivations of these witches and why they have isolated themselves on the planet of Brendock.

Jodie Turner-Smith: Well, I wouldn't compare them to the Nightsisters. I think it's best not to, and to just walk in with an open mind about who they are. But basically, Mother Aniseya has created a community on the planet of Brendock for this coven of witches. We are existing in a time where, according to the Jedi, the power that we have to manipulate the Force is to be feared and wrong. We are, by annexing ourselves on Brendock, in resistance to that idea. I want to say it in that way because it's not like we're sitting here being like, "We want to fight Jedi." We don't. We want to live in peace, and we want to find a place where we are not persecuted for possessing powers that we feel are natural to us and that we should have, and that we don't need to be Jedi in order to have. But perhaps the establishment can find our existence, just like anything that exists outside of the binary, threatening. And that is what makes it so dangerous for a Jedi to come across our paths.

Henderson is playing Vernestra Rwoh, the only established Star Wars character in The Acolyte thus far. She was first introduced in the High Republic novels as a young Jedi Knight. The Acolyte is set a hundred years after the novels and comics, which gave Henderson the space to show a new side of Vernestra, having grown into a wise Jedi Master in that time.

Rebecca Henderson: I did. I'm in three, so I read the three that I'm in. Yes, I did as much research as possible, and I talked a lot with Leslye. But then, because it's a hundred years later, I was able to sort of leave that behind and see who she is now. The way Vernestra is written in these scripts [gives] a lot of information, and there's even more in the coming episodes. So, yeah, there was a lot there for me to draw on.

Leslye Headland "Is So Passionate" About The Acolyte & A Collaborator At Every Step Of The Process

Rebecca Henderson as Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh in The Acolyte season 1 (STAR WARS)

Headland, who created The Acolyte, was involved in the series every step of the way as the showrunner, writer, and director. Turner-Smith and Henderson praised her passion for this project and her willingness to collaborate, making herself available to them for any questions they may have had and becoming a key part of every decision made on The Acolyte.

Jodie Turner-Smith: This was my first time getting a chance to collaborate with Leslye. I found her to be such a generous collaborator; so open to my ideas and conversation, so empowering, very encouraging, and very present. She was always there for all of the episodes that I did; she was right there on set for me to ask her any questions, and she made herself available to me to ask her any questions. That's just what you want to feel when you go to collaborate on something because then it comes alive. It's living and breathing. I loved doing this. And on top of that, my episodes were directed by Kogonada, and that's the other thing. I saw the way that she chose incredible people to bring her vision to life. It was so well-cast, and it was so well-written. It exceeded my expectations by a million, and I hope I get the chance to work with her again. Rebecca Henderson: She is so passionate. She cares so much. She cares so much about all of her work, but I would say she cares the most about this. It is incredible to see her to this moment. I can't wait for people to see it and to be able to soak up The Acolyte. It's incredible; she had to do so much. She didn't just write, she didn't just direct, she didn't just showrun. She also chooses every single thing. I am actually like, "How do you know how to find the music?" Michael Abels' incredible, but how did you know to choose him and work with him? I just am really blown away by her every day.

About The Acolyte

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A mystery-thriller that explores a new era in Star Wars, the end of the prosperous High Republic era. As shadowy secrets and dark side powers begin to emerge a former Padawan will reunite with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes. However, they soon learn that the forces they are up against are more sinister than anyone could have expected.

Check out our other The Acolyte interviews here:

The Acolyte debuts on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on June 4.

Source: Screen Rant Plus