Star Wars Announces Return of ‘The Acolyte’ Star Who Publicly Denounced Lucasfilm

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Jodie Turner-Smith, who starred in the Star Wars series *The Acolyte*, recently addressed criticism surrounding the show and Lucasfilm’s response to it. About a year ago, she publicly commented on the issue. In the 2024 series, Turner-Smith played Mother Aniseya, the leader of a group of witches who were the origin of the show’s main characters, a pair of twins. After the show received a lukewarm reaction from fans, Turner-Smith spoke out about the negative reviews, particularly the hateful and disingenuous comments that were unfortunately common.

Jodie Turner-Smith is returning to the Star Wars universe for the new *Star Wars: Visions* series. She’ll be voicing a character in one of the animated stories, specifically in an episode from WIT Studios called *The Bounty Hunters*, which is part of Season 3.

I was so excited to see the trailer for Season 3, and even more thrilled to find out that Jodie Turner-Smith is joining the cast! She’s going to be amazing alongside Anna Sawai, Simu Liu, and Steve Buscemi – what a lineup of voice actors!

This news follows about a year after Turner-Smith spoke out against Lucasfilm regarding how they managed *The Acolyte*, another Star Wars show she appeared in.

In an October 2024 interview with Glamour, the British actress described the studio’s response to the negative reaction to their 2024 streaming series as “disappointing.”

She really poured her heart and soul into that project, so it’s frustrating to not feel supported by the studio, especially when it’s so visible to the public.

She was hurt by the lack of support from people in positions of authority when she and her fellow cast members of *Acolyte* were targeted with hateful comments, particularly those based on race, gender, or identity.

Turner-Smith expressed frustration with the practice of remaining silent when actors are subjected to intense online criticism, calling it “unfair” to expect them to endure such attacks without support.

It’s unacceptable that they remain silent when people are being attacked online with racist and hateful comments. It’s simply unfair to not speak out against such behavior, and it’s especially damaging when it happens repeatedly.

The actress, Anisaya, added that it would be great if wealthy individuals would publicly state their disapproval of the situation.

It would be good to see wealthy individuals publicly support positive change and firmly oppose unacceptable behavior. A strong statement demonstrating this could be made, and it’s unlikely to significantly impact their profits. This is because people of color, particularly Black people, represent a substantial portion of consumer spending. They might even find that taking a stand is good for business, but the term ‘woke’ is often used negatively these days.

With a Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score of just 19%, *The Acolyte* currently ranks among the lowest-rated Star Wars projects ever. When the series was released, it received a large number of negative reviews, which upset actress Kyra Turner-Smith and other cast members.

I’m really excited to hear that Turner-Smith is coming back to the Star Wars universe! Even with some things they said previously, they’ll be part of the new season of *Star Wars: Visions*, which starts streaming on Disney+ on October 29th. What I love about *Visions* is that it brings in amazing animation studios from all over the world to tell unique stories set within the Star Wars galaxy – it’s a really cool way to expand the universe.

The third season will once again explore the world of Japanese anime, with nine popular studios creating new Star Wars stories. Some of these studios are working on Star Wars for the very first time, while others have contributed before.

Did Jodie Turner-Smith Change Her Mind About Star Wars?

Some Star Wars fans might be surprised to see Jodie Turner-Smith listed on a project’s call sheet. Recently, she hinted that her experience working on a Star Wars project had been difficult.

Despite those earlier statements, she’s returned just a year later to criticize Lucasfilm’s response to the strong negative reaction to her show, *The Acolyte*, after it was released.

It’s possible for Amandla Stenberg (Turner-Smith) to be disappointed with how Lucasfilm handled the criticism of *The Acolyte* last summer, while still continuing to work on projects for the studio, like those within the *Star Wars* franchise.

Wanting leaders to improve doesn’t mean she needs to avoid working with any specific company.

Last year, she clarified that her comments weren’t specifically aimed at Lucasfilm, but rather at studios in general. While *The Acolyte* was produced by Lucasfilm, she believes this is a widespread issue within the entertainment industry that needs to be fixed.

When leaders fail to defend those with talent who are being unfairly attacked, the people spreading negativity won’t understand that genuine fans don’t behave that way.

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2025-09-26 06:35