Leslye Headland Had to Fight to Keep an Iconic ‘Star Wars’ Line in ‘The Acolyte’
As a lifelong Star Wars fan, The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland wanted to get her money’s worth out of the latest streaming series.
Tasked with bringing the High Republic to the screen for the first time, Headland was, in many ways, transversing unexplored territory. Still, she wanted to make sure the series was relatable to even the more casual fans.
![The Acolyte](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-Acolyte-Behind-the-Scenes-2-e1717513026755-1024x564.jpg)
![The Acolyte](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-Acolyte-Behind-the-Scenes-2-e1717513026755-1024x564.jpg)
Photo: Star Wars
While The Acolyte is set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, Headland was able to sneak in some subtle tributes to past Star Wars films.
A Luke Skywalker Homage?
Perhaps most notably, there was the moment when Master Sol, Osha, Kecki, and Jedi Knight Yord Fandar attempted to capture the assassin Mae on the planet Olega. As the team waits to spring their trap, Yord utters Luke Skywalker’s famous line, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
According to Headland, The Acolyte team had to fight to keep the line in the episode.
“That was hard to get that in,” Headland tells Entertainment Weekly. “I’m going to be honest. I got a lot of feedback that I shouldn’t put that in. But I just feel like when you get the opportunity to do Star Wars, you’re just going to shoot your shot. And ‘I have a bad feeling about this’ is incredibly iconic.”
![](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Star-Wars-Original-Luke-Skywalker-Lightsaber-618x400.jpg)
![](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Star-Wars-Original-Luke-Skywalker-Lightsaber-618x400.jpg)
Image: Lucasfilm
“It’s such an iconic line that I think there was some concern of, ‘Well, we don’t want to just drop it in there and have everyone go,’ ‘Oh, I see.’ But I think we found a good way to justify it and make it feel natural and still be an homage,” she continued.
Charlie Barnett Reflects on the Moment
According to Charlie Barnett, who portrays Yord in the series, the moment was not lost on him.
![The Acolyte Yord](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-Acolyte-Yord-1024x429.jpg)
![The Acolyte Yord](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-Acolyte-Yord-1024x429.jpg)
Photo: Lucasfilm
“I had a bad feeling about saying that ‘bad feeling’ line,” he laughed.
The Acolyte is now streaming on Disney+.
![The Acolyte](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-19-at-10-42-48-The-Acolyte-Official-Trailer-Disney-YouTube-e1710865255163-1024x407.png)
![The Acolyte](https://mickeyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-19-at-10-42-48-The-Acolyte-Official-Trailer-Disney-YouTube-e1710865255163-1024x407.png)
Photo: Lucasfilm
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