The force is strong with Lee Jung Jae
MANILA, Philippines — South Korean star Lee Jung Jae has made his Hollywood debut as the “first Asian Jedi Master” in a live-action “Star Wars” production, “The Acolyte.”
Directed and created exclusively for Disney+ by Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll”) based on “Star Wars” by George Lucas, “The Acolyte” explores a brand-new story in a galaxy far, far away via an eight-episode series set in The High Republic. According to the showrunners, this is the era preceding “The Phantom Menace,” where Jedi are at the height of their power, and this has been “seen in publishing and animation, but never before in live action.”
The show starts off with a shocking crime spree, launching an investigation that involves a respected and beloved Jedi mentor named Master Sol (Jung Jae) and his promising former padawan or apprentice Osha (Amandla Sternberg of “Hunger Games”).
“I was writing the character of Sol when ‘Squid Game’ came out. I said, ‘That’s Sol,’” revealed showrunner Leslye in a video about the actor, who was already an icon in South Korea long before his internationally-acclaimed performance in the megahit series “Squid Game.”
When asked by The STAR what this role meant in his 31-year acting career, Jung Jae said in an exclusive Zoom chat, “Personally, it is definitely an immense honor and joy as an actor to be able to participate in such a huge franchise. It’s something that’s even hard to imagine. And because I was thankfully given such a huge opportunity, I really wanted to do a great job.
“And so in order to do that, I put in a lot more hours and effort into the preparation process and thought long and hard about the character. And I also had a lot of discussions with the director and crew on set as to how to bring this character to life.”
The award-winning actor-director further shared that when he first stepped on the London set, he still felt “very nervous.”
“What was top of mind was I really didn’t want to make a mistake on my first day,” he told this paper. “And I also thought that I wanted to make as many different attempts as possible on the first day so that I wanted Leslye to look at the different sides of Sol I could bring to the table so that she may be able to point out what she really liked and wanted to bring to Sol.
“So I tried to, you know, bring something a little bit new or different to each take so that I thought it would be the best way for the director and myself to really build and create the character Master Sol.”
While many welcomed his casting as a historic first and milestone in representation, it’s not without its fair share of scrutiny and criticism. But Jung Jae perfectly understood the fandom’s mixed reactions.
“It was only natural that some people might feel that way because ‘Star Wars’ is a franchise with a very long history and there are so many super (hard) core fans of the franchise. When I heard that, I just thought the fandom is really strong,” he said in a separate virtual presscon held also this week.
Jung Jae even had first-hand experience of how strong the fandom is when he attended the “Star Wars Day” in London.
“I saw the crowd, it was just beyond my imagination, 50 times beyond my imagination! I could tell that the ‘Star Wars’ fandom is amazingly big and passionate and diverse and all rooting for ‘Star Wars.’
“I could feel their passion, feel their love for the franchise. This was something that I’ve never seen in a crowd. This was the most passionate crowd that I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I guess a lot of people would have different ideas about it because they love the franchise so much.”
Nevertheless, Jung Jae believes that the story’s timeframe provided a unique opportunity to include assorted characters, new dimensions and even Asian elements to the portrayal of the Jedi.
“I think ‘The Acolyte’ could incorporate a lot of diverse beings, there are aliens as well, and now it’s time that we have a diverse array of characters, why not? That was what Leslye intended,” he said.
“Because this is set against the High Republic era, I say this a lot in interviews that this is the very senior and first Jedi before the Jedi that we’ve seen so far. Their attire, the way they do their martial arts, even the hairstyle or their way of thinking, their philosophy can be different and more Asian-like.
“Where does this Asian feel come from? Maybe in the very early era, there could be Jedi who are Asians. I think it was only natural because there are some Asian, you know, philosophy or nuance to the Jedi… I think, there could be different reactions from the audiences and fans, but it’s not something I feel strongly about.”
Meanwhile, it was also pointed during the presscon that despite his stature in Korea, he willingly “auditioned” for the role of Master Sol.
“I used the word ‘audition’ but it was more like a camera test that they wanted me to do. At first, we had two rounds of Zoom meetings and Leslye was satisfied, I guess, with what we talked about, so she gave me the script for two scenes. I didn’t know what role I was going to play but she chose two scenes and provided the script.
“She didn’t tell me that this might not be the part that you’ll be playing in ‘The Acolyte.’ But I practiced the dialogue for the two scenes together with Amanda Stenberg. We did camera testing and then I did it alone. I did a lot of preparations. And the set was very prepared and meticulously made as if it was a real shoot. I didn’t really know what this camera test was supposed to mean, how I should take it. But I thought it was kinda like a chemistry rehearsal. That’s how I took it.
“Then there was this other crew who was passing by and he said that there were two or three people waiting for the camera test. I eavesdroped on that and they were very famous people taking the camera test! I thought, OK, this is a camera test? This is actually an audition. That’s what I learned later on.”
Some 10 days later, Jung Jae got the good news that he landed the part and received the script for the entire series. “I was told that the role was Master Sol, a Jedi Master, and I was very surprised — pleasantly surprised.”
On the subject of how he approached his take on Master Sol, he detailed, “Rather than the typical Jedi that we think of, (I thought) what about bringing a little bit of more the human side to my character. So when he feels fear, I want to express that he was afraid.
“And also when there were feelings of regret or what not, I just wanted to be more expressive when I was performing my role for Master Sol. I thought that — that could bring something a little different compared to other Jedi characters.”
He also studied all of the Jedi characters within the “Star Wars” universe and tried to figure out how to connect all of them.
For inspiration, however, he particularly gravitated towards Liam Neeson’s Jedi Master character, Qui-Gon Jinn, from 1999 film “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.”
“With his character and Master Sol’s, I kinda wanted those two to have a connection and chronologically speaking, Master Sol comes before Qui-Gon Jinn, so who knows Qui-Gon Jinn could be a padawan of Master Sol. That was something that I was imagining. I felt special attachment to that character Qui-Gon Jinn.”
Jung Jae spent a total of 10 months of filming in London and apart from the “lightsaber camp” and martial arts training, he dedicated time and effort to performing in English.
“This time around, since it was 100-percent in English, it was something I paid particular attention to. Very thankfully, I have two wonderful dialect coaches and additional two English tutors. Four months prior to filming, I began training with the coaches,” he recalled.
“Then, I went to London where I had in-person sessions as well as Zoom calls. I think I was given enough time to really get into that rhythm so it wasn’t that huge of a challenge. But sometimes, when I deliver lines and if the nuance was captured in a little different way, or if Leslye thought that it needed to be in a different nuance, I would do multiple takes.
“Very thankfully, Leslye and the crew, they knew very well that English was not my first language so they were very patient with me, they made feel at ease. I’m very grateful for their hospitality, in that way.”
Jung Jae suggested that you don’t have to be a “Star Wars” fan to enjoy the series because this could serve as an introduction to the whole franchise.
“Chronologically speaking, this is the earliest era. That is the backdrop of ‘The Acolyte’... You can keep in mind that this is the earlier time period… in the entire ‘Star Wars’ saga.”
Besides that, what made the storytelling stand out for him was the genre. “It follows a series of mysterious murders. That logline itself is very intriguing and I think it really invokes the viewers’ curiosity. It’s a mystery-thriller genre and it stays very true to the genre,” he stressed.
“Going back and forth from the past and the present, the story that’s told through the different timelines, as well as the investigation of this series of mysterious murders and the hidden truth that is being slowly unveiled… I think the more you watch, the more the story is unveiled, it’s going to be more and more intriguing for you.”
(The first two episodes of “The Acolyte” are now streaming on Disney+.)
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