The Acolyte star finally speaks out about “surprise” cancellation

After the shock announcement that Disney Plus would be cancelling The Acolyte, one of the show’s stars has come forward to express their surprise at the news.

From the offset, The Acolyte was a polarizing addition to Disney Plus’ Star Wars collection. With a widely diverse cast and distant setting in the Star Wars timeline, the show was pulled between acclaim and hate, even earning a large amount of review bombing.

With a significant dip in viewership from the two-episode premiere (and an eye-watering $180 million budget), it was no surprise that news of Season 2 was scarce. However, not many fans were expecting the announcement of a flat-out cancellation, prompting petitions and campaigns that demanded Disney bring the show back.

The cast and crew, on the other hand, haven’t been as vocal on the matter as fans. That excludes Lee Jung-jae, however, who plays Jedi Master Sol.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Lee revealed his disappointment about the cancellation, despite the fact that he wouldn’t have been featured in follow-up seasons due to his character’s death in the Season 1 finale.

“As you know, my character had died already in the first season,” Lee said. “So I wouldn’t have appeared in the second season if there was one anyway. But personally speaking, I really loved Leslye’s writing.

“I thought that she was a great writer and director who was very talented in the storytelling, as well as creating characters and creating meaningful structures within the story. So I was actually personally really looking forward to watching a season 2 with her at the helm.”

He added: “To hear the news, I was quite surprised personally as well.”

As for the future, Lee hopes that the fate of The Acolyte will be turned around.

“Honestly, I am hoping that maybe there could be changes in the future,” he continued. “Because you never know what’s going to happen. So on a personal level, I really hope we could get to see further stories of Leslye’s second season.”

For more, check out our guides to Andor Season 2 and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. You can also learn about all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, so you don’t miss a thing.