Each episode of The Acolyte introduced one surprise after the next, but its shocking season finale nearly ended on the most shocking act of all: a kiss.
The Acolyte Episode 8 picks up where Episode 6, “Teach/Corrupt,” left off, with the Sith warrior known as Qimir, aka the Stranger (Manny Jacinto), literally trying to seduce the conflicted Osha (Amandla Stenberg) to the dark side. By the time the credits roll, Osha’s fulfilled Qimir’s request to murder a Jedi without a weapon and even created her own red lightsaber. They’re last seen holding hands with that aforementioned saber between them. It’s a hard-won moment for those who’ve demanded more overt romance from the franchise, but director Hanelle M. Culpepper and showrunner Leslye Headland once worried if it would be overt enough.
“It was really cool to play around with how far to go with that,” Culpepper tells Inverse. “We were like, ‘Do they kiss? Do they not kiss?’” Ultimately it became more about honoring Osha’s complex mental state than diving headfirst into a romance. “The lightsaber just kind of became the perfect thing to show their union.”
Culpepper, who directed Episodes 6 and 8 of The Acolyte, has inadvertently become the patron saint of “Oshamir,” the fan-selected name for Osha and Qimir’s tentative almost-romance. Their growing connection is mostly Headland’s vision, but it was Culpepper who executed it. To the director, it’s not truly a romance just yet, but there is definitely potential.
“It will be very exciting to see how that connection continues in another season,” Culpepper offers coyly.
The Acolyte isn’t Culpepper’s first rodeo. She’s well-versed in some of sci-fi’s most visible franchises, from Star Trek to DC. Her work in the former has made history on a few occasions: as the director that helped launch Star Trek: Picard, Culpepper became the first woman to direct a Star Trek pilot. After The Acolyte, she’s the first person period to direct a television project in both the Star Wars and Star Trek universes. She’s had a career full of impressive firsts, particularly in genre spaces, but at the end of the day, only one thing really matters: telling a compelling story.
In a conversation with Inverse, Culpepper sits down to discuss The Acolyte’s emotional season finale, its impressive alien cameos, and the future of the Star Wars series.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
You’ve dipped your toe in a number of nerdy genres, so I have to assume that you geek out a little bit about this stuff. How does it feel to direct The Acolyte episode that brought Master Yoda back?
[Laughs] That was the hardest secret to keep all this time, because everyone wants to know stuff. I was so excited that I got to work with Yoda, but I was not able to say anything. Once that scene finally aired — literally once the credits rolled — I was like, “Finally, I can post now!” My husband’s like, “No, wait, because it’s a big spoiler. Give people the chance to see it.” So I haven't even posted about that yet. But that was such an exciting day for me and Leslye when they brought out the trunk that he was in and you see him there, and with the puppeteer, it’s just amazing how they use the eyes and ears and make it come to life. I massively geeked out on that day.
“She really had to fight for it, actually, but it was all a part of her plan.”
I was starting to think it wasn’t going to happen. When everyone learned that The Acolyte was set before the prequels, people were holding out for a Yoda cameo. Were you having conversations with Leslye about teasing the audience with that?
She really had to fight for it, actually, but it was all a part of her plan. I give her so much credit for getting it.
I’m surprised that she’d have to fight for it.
[Lucasfilm] is just very, very protective of the brand and what happens to the characters. There’s other storylines being developed by Lucasfilm as well, so it all has to fit together. It has to make sense.
There are a lot of deep cuts in this episode, specifically in the finale. When you’re reading the script and you’re like, “OK, there’s this weird alien guy [later confirmed as Darth Plagueis] lurking in this cave.” Are you like, “I know exactly who that is,” or are you getting that info from someone like Leslye or Pablo Hidalgo?
Well, we get some things that are redacted, too, and that are redacted until we’re shooting it. I think the whole last scene was just blacked out. And even I was not told who that alien was going to be, but I got lots of hints. I was finally told who it was as we were figuring out the best way to shoot it, but it was not until so late in the game.
“I’ve never had a script be redacted before Star Wars.”
I’m sure it takes a lot of trust in your showrunner to say, “OK, you’re leading me through this.”
You need to know things because you’re prepping for it, so you get as much as you can get to prep. But then eventually — as Leslye trusts us as well — she started sharing more information with me. But it is funny: It was a redacted scene for so long.
Is this the first franchise that you’ve worked on that’s been so secretive?
I’ve never had a script be redacted before Star Wars, but Star Trek was secretive as well. With Star Trek: Picard, the first version of the script had all these fake names in it. So once I started prep, they would put the real names back and there was a learning curve of, “OK, wait, this character is actually this character.” Westworld was pretty secretive, too.
You have been heavily involved in other TV productions like Kung Fu and Picard. How involved were you with The Acolyte?
There’s so much to figure out. Some of the sets were already established when I started, and some were getting designed as I was going through my prep process, so I was able to have some say in it. The cave set was one of them. Basically, first I have a conversation with Leslye and we go through all of the creative things that inspire her. With the cave scene, she wanted me to watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and that cave scene. Then, based on what she has in her head, I’m having conversations with the department heads as we continue to go through the prep process.
“She wanted me to watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
For our lightsaber fights or for the space chase, we’re working out storyboards or doing stunt vis and then taking that back to Leslye. They’ll do their pass; I give my notes adjustments; they’ll do a new pass. It’s a constant collaboration between all the teams to pull it all together. With the space chase, the first thing I did was a storyboard sequence. Then I worked with Rob Bredow and Jason McAuliffe to make it work with all the parameters that we were dealing with. If Leslye wanted to change something with a story beat, we would adjust it and then adjust the storyboards. Then, the visual effects team would take them and do a pre-vis so that we can see it in action. There’s a lot of steps and collaboration between a lot of people to bring you the delight you saw on Tuesday.
I love that you brought up Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because I came across a list of films that have influenced you over the years. Were there any films or even styles or genres that inspired your block for The Acolyte?
I looked at Andor again because I really loved how they did some of their stuff. I looked at all of the Star Wars movies again and leaned into some of those really cool lightsaber fights that they had in some of the later movies. You want to take the best parts of what’s been done before and maybe steal that and adjust it a little bit.
I do feel like The Acolyte is the best of both worlds, not only because it embraces old and new. It’s extremely character-driven, but there are also these crazy bursts of kinetic, gripping action. The finale especially balances all of that with these crazy stakes. Could you talk a bit about building that major fight between Mae, Osha, Sol, and The Stranger?
It starts with storyboarding and fight-vis. We were also making sure that the coolness of the fight doesn’t overshadow the emotional drama that has to happen with the actors. Once we felt like we had that there, then we divide the shots between the second unit and the first unit. First unit always gets any emotional moments, and we always get lines. There may be a few key stunt beats that first unit may do, but a lot of the stuff that takes so much time to get it right goes to second unit.
“The lightsaber just became the perfect thing to show their union.”
We also had to give Amandla the time and space to do what she does. She is super prepared when she comes in. We rehearsed that ahead of time on the set. Determining which character she’s going to play first is a key part of the decision, and she just gave us so many layers and levels of emotion for that scene. I am in awe of Amandla. She did such an incredible job in this series.
I agree.
It’s very hard what she did. It is punishing for her body physically, but also emotionally, in the scene at the bunta tree where the sisters come together. Her acting double, Shanice, is also incredible at giving Amandla what she needs. She also has to learn the lines and learn all the fighting and give that emotion. She was giving just as much, but you don’t ever get to see her face. To me, that’s just the ultimate in generosity, what an acting double does for an actor who’s playing two roles.
The finale leaves the door open for a lot of interesting threads to continue. Have y’all had any conversations about a Season 2, even if it’s just like, “It would be cool to explore this in the future”?
We certainly hope to have a Season 2. When I joined, I got Amandla’s book that she wrote really laying out so much about her characters and their growth over this season. It was always very interesting that we end with Osha going dark when she started out good, and the reverse for Mae. I hope that there’s a Season 2 so we can continue exploring those characters.
For a group of Star Wars fans, you are a queen for directing Episode 6 and 8 because they’re so romantically inclined. Are you into the idea of Osha and Qimir being more than just master and apprentice? I saw some people saying, “They’re married now!” because of the hand-holding moment.
[Laughs] It was really cool to play around with how far to go with that. We were like, “Do they kiss? Do they not kiss?” The lightsaber just kind of became the perfect thing to show their union — not in a “married” kind of way, but she’s going to be his acolyte and they’re going to have a really strong connection. It will be very exciting to see how that connection continues in another season. Fingers are crossed that we get one.
One of my favorite things about The Acolyte is that it finally feels like I have a Star Wars thing for me. It’s been really gratifying to see this wave of diversity manifesting not just in Star Wars, but in Star Trek and Westworld. You’ve had a hand in each of those franchises, and have been at the center of this slow-but-steady shift. How often do you think about your role as a Black woman in this genre space, if at all?
I really only think about it when I am doing an interview or if I’m meeting someone in person and they mention it. Because when I get the work, I’m just so much about the work that I’m not even thinking about anything else. I remember when I got Star Trek: Picard, I had no idea that I was the first woman to launch a Star Trek series until they did the press release. For me, it was just, “Oh my God, I get to work with Patrick Stewart! I get to help create the pilot for this show, and I love The Next Generation.” I just come in thinking of things as a director and obviously, bringing my eye as a Black woman to it, trying to make sure that there’s representation on-screen. But it’s not in my top-of-mind, day-to-day until it’s brought up to me. As long as I continue to do y’all proud, and hopefully keep opening doors for more to come in behind me, that’s what’s so important.
