According to a new report, His Dark Materials star Dafne Keen is rumored to have been cast in The Acolyte. The Acolyte is a Star Wars show which just began filming in the U.K. for Disney+. We already have a lot of casting news for The Acolyte via the trades, but this is the first casting rumor I’ve heard for a while for the show. The report comes from The Hot Mic‘s Jeff Sneider and John Rocha. As you likely already know, almost every report these guys have had in the last few weeks has been backed up by a trade just a few days later. I therefore am inclined to trust this is legit.
For now, there appears to be no indication of what role Keen has been given. Frankly all we have for The Acolyte so far is some codenames for characters. That leaves a wealth of possibilities for Keen and I’m not going to start speculating on codenamed characters. The only thing we can say for certain is that Keen is not playing the lead role. That role is being played by Amandla Stenberg who was the first cast member announced.
That being said, I have a feeling Keen’s won’t be a small role as she is a star on the rise. Keen was amazing as X-23 in Logan and I have also loved her portrayal of Lyra in His Dark Materials. The third and final Season of His Dark Materials premieres this December on BBC and HBO Max (territory dependent). Therefore, it is likely Keen is now free to move onto a new role, in Star Wars.
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The current cast list for The Acolyte includes Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) and Jodie Turner-smith (Anne Boleyn). Additionally Squid Game‘s Lee Jung-Jae is likely one of the bigger characters in addition to lead star Stenberg.
For now, all we know is that The Acolyte is set around 100 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace and before Palpatine’s rise to power. It seems like the show will focus on Sith acolytes. It seems Stenberg will become one in the first Season of the show. Rumors are that the Jedi’s loss is the Sith’s gain as Stenberg’s character is deemed to old for Jedi training. Those are likely legit and as such I won’t get into any more details. I’m happy Keen is going to appear even if we don’t know what role she will have.
What do you think of the news that His Dark Materials star Dafne Keen is rumored to have been cast in The Acolyte? As always, leave any thoughts below in the usual spot.