The Acolyte Season 1 Finale Director Opened Up To Us About Shooting That Major Death Scene
I'm still thinking about this.
Warning: SPOILERS for The Acolyte are ahead!
If you thought that the major deaths in The Acolyte Episode 5, titled “Night,” meant that no other important characters in this Star Wars TV show were going to be killed off, you were sorely mistaken. In the Season 1 finale, fittingly titled “The Acolyte”, Lee Jung-jae’s Sol was killed by Amandla Stenberg’s Osha, his former apprentice, after he admitted that he killed her and Mae’s mother, Jodie Turner-Smith’s Mother Aniseya, 16 years earlier. It’s arguably one of the darkest moments in the Star Wars franchise, and Hanelle M. Culpepper, who directed the Season 1 finale, opened up to CinemaBlend about what it was like shooting this death scene.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Culpepper about her work on The Acolyte, which also included helming Episode 6, titled “Teach / Corrupt”. On the subject of Sol’s death, I asked her what the atmosphere was like on the day that scene was shot, and if she remembered anything about Lee-Jung-jae’s approach to his character’s final moments. Culpepper (who's also the first director to direct TV episodes in both the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises) started off by saying:
Sol killing Mother Aniseya was shown in the prior episode, “Choice,” as he struck her down with his lightsaber when she tried to use her power. Not only had she not intended to harm him, she used her dying words to inform him that she’d planned to give permission for Osha to leave with him and the other Jedi. Sol rationalized keeping this information from her by saying he was trying to protect her and giver her she’d dream of, but learning this knowledge pushed Osha to the Dark Side. Before he died, and as Mae and Manny Jacinto’s Qimir watched on, Sol told Osha it was “ok” what she was going to do, and seconds later, he was gone.
Along with Lee Jung-jae knocking it out of the park with his performance generally speaking, Hanelle M. Culpepper pointed out that what made his work on The Acolyte overall even more impressive was that this was his first time working on an English-language show. As she told me:
While there’s certainly no shortage of people around the world who’d seen Lee Jung-jae play Song Ji-hun in Squid Game, the role that netted him an Emmy, The Acolyte was an impressive way for him to make his English-language debut. Alas, Sol’s time on the Star Wars series is done, and his reputation has also been tainted by Vernestra Rwoh blaming the deaths of Idara, Torbin, Kelnacca and the Force witches on him. Venestra did this after sensing the presence of Qimir, her former apprentice, on Brendok, and while she kept this from the Jedi Council, that Yoda cameo at the end of the Season 1 finale indicates she may trust him enough to tell him the truth.
There’s still no word on if The Acolyte Season 2 is happening or not, but you’re always welcome to revisit these first eight episodes with your Disney+ subscription. As for Lee Jung-jae, he’ll be back for Squid Game Season 2, which premieres to Netflix subscription holders on December 26, and will be followed by the final season in 2025.
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Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.