Twins revealed, shocking death declared

SPOILER WARNING: This story notes major plot developments in the series premiere of “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” now streaming on Disney+.

The first episode of “Star Wars: The Acolyte” has arrived on Disney+ from a galaxy far, far away, and with its debut comes two big reveals: the shocking death of Jedi Master Indara, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, and the confirmation that the show’s star, Amandla Stenberg, plays twins. Fans suspected the latter after a recent trailer’s subtitle description labeled Stenberg’s character as Osha, instead of her character’s previously announced name, Mae. But Moss’ death came as a surprise, as marketing has positioned the actor as one of the show’s leads.

Stenberg leads the cast as identical twin sisters Mae and Osha. While Mae spent her days repairing intergalactic freighters, Osha transformed herself into the ferocious Jedi assassin known as the Acolyte. When Osha tracks down and kills Indara, the blame is placed on Mae, who believes her sister is long dead after a childhood accident.

Director Leslye Headland narrates Variety that she courted Moss for “several weeks” for the role of Indara, and insists the action icon “had to be involved in the project at all costs.” As for Indara’s immediate departure, Headland says her death was the perfect intro to this dark twist on the “Star Wars” universe.

“I thought it was a good tone setter for the show,” says Headland. “[It shows] that the Jedis will suffer some losses, and that the good guys and the bad guys aren’t always who you think they are.

Stenberg calls the decision “one of the boldest moves Leslye Headland could have made on our show.” Although they were deadly opponents on camera, Moss and Stenberg became “very close” behind the scenes and developed a bond through their spiritual upbringing.

“We actually grew up in the same spiritual community,” says Stenberg. “And so working on ‘Star Wars,’ which is very spiritual, there’s a lot of reflection that I was doing — especially because I was literally confronting myself when my soul was split into two people.”

“Carrie-Anne and I had a lot of those conversations together,” she continues. “She really offered me a guiding hand and emphasized the importance of taking care of yourself and staying grounded in the midst of this type of work.”

When asked about playing hero and villain for “The Acolyte,” Stenberg says she knew the challenges of taking on two roles “from the jump” after Headland pitched her to the idea at a Los Angeles pizzeria. After talking at length about playing both Osha and Mae, Stenberg went home and “wrote backstories for both of them.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of Yin and Yang – because it’s such an influential force on the ‘Star Wars’ universe, Eastern philosophy and religion,” says Stenberg. “And these characters are kind of a physical manifestation of that.”

Stenberg says Mae is the Ying, describing her as “intuitive and emotional until she operates from a place of emotion.” Osha is of course the Yang, ‘masculine’, with a ‘facade that holds together a lot of vulnerability within’.

“The backstory really helped,” Stenberg adds. “Writing is very important to me, and reading. So it’s so helpful for me to be able to read into a character’s psyche, even if I’m writing it myself. And I always refer to it again.”

Adam B. Vary contributed to this story.