‘The Acolyte’ star Lee Jung-jae reacts to show’s cancellation: ‘I was quite surprised’

The Acolyte was arguably the most daring Star Wars project ever. Not only was it the most diverse cast to come out of a galaxy far, far away, but creator Leslye Headland’s series set in the final days of High Republic also slashed and burned its way through eight thrilling episodes, killing Jedi at a blistering pace and staging some of the most breathtaking lightsaber action sequences ever seen.

Perhaps it was simply too daring for the franchise. Or maybe it became a victim of Disney’s efforts to drastically cut down on streaming series costs. Whatever the reason, it was reported on Aug. 19 that The Acolyte had been canceled and would not carry on for a second season. It may not have been a completely shocking result seeing as how Headland recently told Entertainment Weekly that she had heard absolutely nothing about a second season, but there was at least one cast member who was surprised: Lee Jung-jae.

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Lee’s character of Master Sol played a pivotal role in season 1 of the show, a season that — SPOILER ALERT! — ended with him being Force-choked to death by his former Padawan Osha (Amandla Stenberg). So even though the actor’s time on the series was seemingly over (unless there were planned flashbacks or Force Ghost visions — always a possibility on Star Wars), he still had thoughts on The Acolyte’s cancellation, which he shared with EW.

“As you know, my character had died already in the first season,” says Lee. “So I wouldn’t have appeared in the second season if there was one anyway. But personally speaking, I really loved Leslye’s writing. I thought that she was a great writer and director who was very talented in the storytelling, as well as creating characters and creating meaningful structures within the story. So I was actually personally really looking forward to watching a season 2 with her at the helm.”

And it was a season that the Emmy-winning Squid Game actor expected to see, and is now disappointed to not get: “To hear the news, I was quite surprised personally as well.”

However, like many fans, Lee is not ready to fully let go of the hope for more Acolyte at some point in the future, and not dissimilar from everyone’s favorite scruffy nerfherder, never tell him the odds. “Honestly, I am hoping that maybe there could be changes in the future,” Lee says. “Because you never know what’s going to happen. So on a personal level, I really hope we could get to see further stories of Leslye’s second season.”

Hey, if it means more Darth Plagueis, more Yoda, and more of Manny Jacinto gently brushing his hand up against Stenberg’s, then that is a hope we share. Especially if we finally get that Bazil origin story episode.

Additional reporting by Sydney Busckbaum.