Learn more about the coven of witches at the center of the latest episode of the new Disney+ series.
Not all witches are Dathomir’s sisters.
When The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland started writing it Star Wars series – the first three episodes are now broadcast on Disney +, – it was inspired by Mother Talzin and her clan of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But it was Dave Filoni, who worked alongside Star Wars creator George Lucas on the animated series, who helped guide Headland in creating her own global clan led by Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith).
“Dave Filoni very quickly became a sort of mentor to me in terms of navigating what this part of the timeline would be like for both Jedi and other Force users,” Headland explains. “It was a bit of that ‘A-ha!’ moment for me when he said, ‘You know, not all witches are nightsisters.’
Spoiler warning: This article discusses story details and plot points from the third episode of The Acolyte, “Fate.”
In the third episode of The Acolytewe travel back in time from the premiere of two episodes of the series to meet young Mae and little Osha, twins raised by a coven of witches on the world of Brendok. “I had the unique opportunity to create something that no one had seen before,” Turner-Smith says of working with Headland, episodic director Kogonada and the rest of the team on the role. “It was truly an adventure creating (Mother Aniseya). I didn’t create it from outside of me. I created it from within myself. Mom was mothering,” she says with a laugh.
From Dathomir to Brendok
Headland had been a fan of Talzin’s Dathomiri clan since he first watched the anime series. On Brendok, we find another society of witches with an entirely different aesthetic, some Force abilities, and perhaps somewhat unorthodox beliefs in the eyes of the Republic.
As the leader of the clan and mother of the young twins, Turner-Smith draws on the duality at the heart of the series, while also drawing on her own experiences as a parent. “(The filmmakers) really allowed me to play all the different complexities of a mother,” she says. “Here we have this woman who is the mother of twins, so we have this symbolic representation of two different and sometimes opposing ways of being and thinking. Her job as a mother is to constantly hold space for it, to nurture it. And then there’s the fact that she’s also the leader of this clan, so she constantly needs to evolve between the emotional, sensitive, gentler ways of being that are necessary to be a mother, but also that strength, that fierceness and toughness that is necessary to lead a group of people. And she tries to pass these lessons on to her children. There is not only good or bad, there is not only light side and dark side. It’s not just the Jedi and everyone else, you know. The world is multifaceted. »
Another element of duality can be found in Aniseya’s parental partner, Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), a fierce Zabrak warrior whose views often conflict with those of her leader. “It was really wonderful to be able to play with Margarita. Not only do we have relationships with each other, but we are also parents together,” Turner-Smith said. “There’s nothing that can challenge your relationship like being a parent. And, in this particular circumstance, the stakes are obviously very heightened because Mother Aniseya is also its leader. What happens when you disagree with the way someone runs the community? How does this ripple out to then catalyze different moments that become explosive? »
“I felt like when we were making the film, a lot of the topics we were exploring were really relevant,” Levieva adds. “I get emotional. (Koril) means a lot to me. I love him so much. I felt it so deeply. The actor could clearly see the connection between his own protective nature towards his then 5-month-old baby and Koril’s ferocity in defending his family. “She’s a mother and I was a new mother at the time.”
Aniseya’s crown
Costume designer Jennifer Bryan created a unique coordinating color palette that reflects the serenity of Brendok’s natural mossy greens alongside the blue of the witches’ everyday attire and the striking royal purples of the clan’s Ascension robes. Aniseya’s locks, styled by hair and makeup artist Jeremy Woodhead’s department, form a sort of natural crown on her head while simultaneously suggesting a braid of kinky, twisted hair that has never been cut – historically a symbol of power a woman’s. “I thought it was so beautiful, this homage to Afro-textured hair and the beauty of it,” Turner-Smith says. The full wardrobe helped Turner-Smith embody the role. “There’s something about being in a dress and getting on these sets,” she says. “You walk differently. You move through space differently. You know, when something follows you, something happens in the way you move through the world.
“When designing for Mother Aniseya and the witches, I wanted to set them apart from what we’ve seen in previous Star Wars episodes and films,” adds Bryan. “I use purple as a color because it (evokes) a kind of royalty. This is a very high group of women and Mother Aniseya is the queen. The color story also transcends time, echoing the past in Mae’s purple assassin’s cape seen in the first two episodes.
Like the younger versions of Mae (Leah Brady) and Osha (Lauren Brady), the twin actors delighted their collaborators on set. “It was wonderful to work with them and also watch them grow from the beginning to the end of the process,” says Turner-Smith. “I definitely grew up working with them. It was beautiful to contemplate the energy of two beings who once shared space in the womb. They’re just connected. They are really imbued with this energy. It’s how they move through the world and navigate space. You really feel that. And I just had a lot of fun with them. For me, working with and learning from these two beautiful girls was my most memorable experience on Star Wars.”