‘The Acolyte’ Crew Built Massive Physical Sets Instead of Using a Virtual Soundstage
The next chapter in the Star Wars saga will arrive soon when The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4, 2024.
Set roughly 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, the new series will introduce audiences to the era of the High Republic.
Photo: Lucasfilm
To bring the new time period to life, showrunner Leslye Headland was determined to do things differently from her recent Star Wars peers. Unlike The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, Headland did not want The Acolyte to use The Volume, the almost 360-degree LED soundstage that creates virtual environments.
‘The Acyolte’ Sets Required a Map to Navigate
To make Headland’s vision a reality, The Acolyte crew built practical sets. These, however, were not your run-of-the-mill sets. To create the lush green planets that have become a trademark of Star Wars, the crews built sets that actually required directions to get around.
“We have a forest that required an actual map to navigate, that was inside of a warehouse,” recalled star Amandla Stenberg to GamesRadar+.
Photo: Star Wars
“I remember being in the pre-production office, and I saw the map posted up on the wall and I said, ‘Oh, is that like a canon map of what our forest looks like?’ And they said, ‘No, no, that’s a real map.’”
‘The Acolyte’ Stars Were Amazed
Charlie Barnett, who plays Yord Fandar in the series, and Dafne Keen, who plays Padawan Jecki, were similarly effusive in their praise.
Photo: Disney
“The entirety of the sets, they were whole worlds. They built [the planet Khofar] and it became a whole ecosystem. There were rivers running through it, plants [and animals] moved in, birds living in the ceiling,” Barnett says.
“I was tripping on mushrooms,” Keen added. “By tripping on mushrooms, I mean literally!”
Photo: Disney
The Acolyte will hit Disney+ on June 4.
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