The Acolyte star says the Star Wars show's cancelation was "overwhelming," but she's still "proud" of playing a Jedi: "Bucket list ticked"

the acolyte
(Image credit: Disney+)

Dafne Keen, who played Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon in The Acolyte, has talked about the Star Wars show's cancelation.

The series was not renewed for more last year despite ending on a massive cliffhanger, with the reasoning put down to poor viewership. It starred Amandla Stenberg in dual roles as twins Osha and Mae.

"It's definitely, I think, overwhelming for all of us," Keen told Screen Rant. "I think we were all very proud of what we created. I know I'm very proud [of my character], I was very proud of how my friend Amandla [Stenberg] handled the situation. And honestly, I'm a huge nerd myself, so I was just really happy that I got to play a Jedi. Bucket list ticked."

Jecki (spoiler alert) was brutally killed off by Manny Jacinto's Qimir halfway through The Acolyte, so, even if a season 2 did happen, Jecki wouldn't have been back for more.

Despite the show's cancelation, a new report has said that The Acolyte was Disney Plus's most-viewed show of 2024, behind only Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It also had a devoted fanbase which launched a campaign to save the show with the #RenewTheAcolyte hashtag.

After the news broke, Stenberg called out "a rampage of… hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language towards us," commenting that the cancelation was "not a huge shock." However, her co-star Lee Jung-jae, who played Jedi Master Sol, shared that he was "quite surprised personally."

Next up for Star Wars is Andor season 2, which releases on Disney Plus this April 23. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows for everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store.

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Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

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