Actress Jodie Turner-Smith, who is set to star in the Star Wars spin off series, The Acolyte, accused the Star Wars universe of being too male-centered and “patriarchal” during an event in the U.K. meant to honor the space epic and its dozens of spin offs.
During the Star Wars Celebration 2023 event held in London last Friday, Turner-Smith and co-star Rebecca Henderson were being interviewed about their roles in the upcoming Disney series and during the discussion she insisted that because she is a woman, her “powerful leader” role is usual in the universe of films, TV shows, and other properties.
“My character, you know, she’s a powerful leader. She’s a powerful leader in a very woman-centered world, which I was very excited to kind of be in that because I feel like Star Wars is very patriarchal,” Turner-Smith insisted.
“So, it was kind of cool to have this sort of woman-centered figure,” she added.
“And you know she’s really sort of going through a struggle because I mean that’s Star Wars, right? She’s really kind of like in this sort of quandary and that’s sort of her journey is to, to kind of go through this struggle between two ideas,” the Anne Boleyn actress said.
The Acolyte has been billed as a female-led series since news about it first leaked, Bounding Into Comics noted.
For example, writing of the coming series for Variety last year, reporter Joe Otterson said, “Details of the exact plot of the series are being kept under wraps, but sources say it will be a female-centric series that takes place in a different part of the Star Wars timeline than other projects.”
Showrunner Leslye Headland later confirmed that characterization of the series, adding, “Just because my show is technically yes, ‘female centric,’ meaning it centers around a female protagonist. I don’t think that necessarily excludes men from that space.”
All these proclamations, though, did not fool long-time Star Wars fans who jumped to the Youtube video of the interview to wonder if Turner-Smith and Headland ever heard of the series’ many strong female characters such as Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), Rey (Daisy Ridley), Asoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), Sen. Mon Mortma (Caroline Blakiston and Genevieve O’Reilly), or the latest, Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) in The Mandalorian.
The truth is, Star Wars has never wanted for strong female characters, and there has been at least one in nearly every property since the space opera first began in 1977.
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