Casting, as anyone who's worked in Hollywood before, can be hard. But sometimes, you see an actor in a film or TV show, and something just clicks.
That's what happened to showrunner Leslye Headland when she was trying to cast a crucial role in The Acolyte, Disney's next live-action Star Wars show. Speaking to IGN in conjunction with today's reveal of the first trailer, Headland described her casting struggle, and how Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae solved it.
"I had written this character, and I had no idea who to cast, and I had no idea who was going to be able to play all of these different levels," she said.
But luckily, Lee came to mind. Despite his prolific career in Korean film, Headland, like many other international fans, came to know him through his award-winning role as protagonist Seong Gi-hun in Netflix's Squid Game.
"I thought [about] Squid Game and I was like, 'that’s the guy, that’s him. I don’t know how I get in touch with this person, I don’t know if they want to perform in English.' To me, it became so clearly [Lee]'s part, as opposed to [casting him for] the fact he’s a Korean movie star," Headland said.
"And then when I worked with him I was like, 'this is the best actor I’ve ever worked with,' " she continued. "Watching him perform in English for the first time, and tracking the emotional beats, doing so much of his own action. Obviously we had an amazing stunt team that did the stunts. He did so much of his own action, which I had no idea he could do."
Headland previously revealed that Lee will essentially be playing the male lead of The Acolyte, a respected Jedi Master. Disney official synopsis teases that "an investigation into a shocking crime spree" pits Lee's character against "a dangerous warrior from his past," played by Amandla Stenberg.
"As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems…." the synopsis concludes.
Lee and Stenberg will star alongside Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Charlie Bennett, Dafne Keen, Manny Jacinto, Joonas Suotamo, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Carrie-Ann Moss.
Star Wars: The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ on June 4.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
