After publicly criticizing Lucasfilm just under a year ago, The Acolyte star Jodie Turner-Smith is back in the Star Wars franchise. Turner-Smith played Mother Aniseya in the 2024 Star Wars series, a leader of a group of Force-wielding witches from whom the show's central pair of twins came. Following the show's tepid reception from fans, the Acolyte actress spoke out about the Star Wars studio's response to its negative reviews, especially those that included hateful messages and bad-faith arguments—of which there were, sadly, many.
Jodie Turner-Smith has been confirmed to return to the Star Wars franchise in the upcoming Star Wars: Visions series, however, appearing in one of the show's animated anthology stories. Turner-Smith will voice a character in WIT Studios' The Bounty Hunters as a part of Visions Season 3.
Turner-Smith's casting was officially announced alongside the show's Season 3 trailer (via Star Wars). She joins names like Anna Sawai, Simu Liu, and Steve Buscemi on the series' stacked voice cast.
This comes just about a year after Turner-Smith publicly criticized Lucasfilm for its handling of The Acolyte (another Star Wars series that she was a part of).
In an October 2024 interview with Glamour, the British actress called the studio's reaction to the hate surrounding the 2024 streaming series, "disappointing:"
"She put so much care and thought and love into that, and it’s disappointing to feel like your studio is not having your back in a very public-facing way."
She said that it hurt her not to see those in power step up when hate was directed at her and the rest of the Acolyte cast, especially when things like race, gender, and identity were brought up.
"They've got to stop doing this thing where they don't say anything when people are getting f-ing dog-piled," Turner-Smith posited, adding it is "unfair" to the actors to have to go through that:
"They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting f-ing dog-piled on the internet with racism and bullshit. It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair."
Continuing, the Mother Anisaya star remarked, "It would just be nice if the people that have all the money...say this is unacceptable:"
"It would just be nice if the people that have all the money were showing their support and putting their feet down. Say this is unacceptable: 'You’re not a fan if you do this.' Make a really big statement and just see if any money leaves. I bet you it won’t, because people of colour, and especially Black people, make up a very large percentage of buying power. They might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them, but everyone’s using ‘woke’ like it’s a dirty word."
The Acolyte remains as one of the lowest-rated projects, in terms of Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score, in Star Wars history, standing at a paltry 19%. The series was the target of a widespread review-bombing campaign at the time of its release, causing such a response from Turner-Smith and several other members of the show's cast.
Turner-Smith will return to the Star Wars galaxy, despite these past comments, on October 29, as Star Wars: Visions Season 3 begins streaming on Disney+. The animated anthology continues the series' tradition of having renowned animation studios from around the world tackle anthology stories set anywhere in the Star Wars galaxy.
Season 3 will return to the world of Japanese anime as nine fan-favorite anime studios take on the Star Wars universe, some for the first time, and others not.
Did Jodie Turner-Smith Change Her Mind About Star Wars?
Some fans may be confused by Jodie Turner-Smith's name appearing on a call sheet for a Star Wars project. Just a few short months ago, it seemed her experience working within the franchise had really done a number on the actress.
However, that does not seem to be the case, as she is back just one year after those comments, calling out Lucasfilm for its reaction to the, frankly, unacceptable hate The Acolyte received upon release.
These two things can both be possible, though. Turner-Smith can be upset with Lucasfilm's reaction to the barrage of negativity The Acolyte faced last summer, and she can still take jobs working within the studio's biggest franchise.
Just because she wants those in power to do better does not mean she has to swear off projects under any particular corporate umbrella.
She even said in her statements last year that she was not explicitly calling out Lucasfilm, but studios in a more general sense. Sure, Lucasfilm was the name connected to The Acolyte, but, as she mentioned, this is a problem across the entertainment industry, and it needs to be addressed.
If those in power sit idly by and do nothing, offering no support for their talent when they are being piled on, those bad actors spreading the hate in the first place will never learn that this is not what true fans do.
