The Acolyte's Lightsaber Battles Caused Destruction Behind The Scenes
One of the most exciting things about "The Acolyte" is its return to elaborate action choreography. The prequels raised the bar for what "Star Wars" fight scenes could do, giving us Jedi jumps and flips that really sold the idea of the Jedi being awesome, superhuman warriors revered throughout the galaxy. Now, "The Acolyte" is bringing wuxia martial arts action to the franchise for a new type of Jedi choreography that we've never seen before — and judging from the first trailer, we are in for a treat. Indeed, there is one fight scene in "The Acolyte" that is trying to beat the Darth Maul fight from "The Phantom Menace" and give us the best fight scene in all of "Star Wars," according to Dafne Keen.
But making "The Acolyte" was not all serious business: there was also a lot of fun to be had — especially if you played a Jedi. Speaking to Variety, actor Charlie Barnett discussed how he made sure to add some fun to the rigorous training for his role, with him and his co-stars taking their lightsabers off-set to play Jedi "all day, every day."
"You know, there are some walls that got dented I'm not going to lie," Barnett joked. Bernett was not the only one who caused some lightsaber chaos while making "The Acolyte." During the approximately 240 hours of training it took to become a certified Jedi, Dafne Keen admitted to keep breaking lightsaber props. "How did I feel when I broke my first one? I s*** myself," she said, jokingly. "I was like, 'I'm about to get fired.'"
Every Star Wars actor wants to play with lightsabers
This is far from uncommon when making a "Star Wars" project. More often than not, actors behave the way you'd picture anyone being able to use "real" lightsabers or blasters world — break a lot of them while playing and making noises. Giancarlo Esposito may not have played a Jedi, but he did get to play around with the Darksaber, and also break enough of them that the production was down to a single prop that was very much needed for a scene.
Then there was Ewan McGregor. The actor did not break lightsaber props (though the metal lightsaber blades did bend all the time while making the prequel trilogy), but he had a habit of making his own lightsaber sound effects while shooting, and not just during the prequel trilogy when he was younger, but even during the more recent "Obi-Wan Kenobi" TV show. Honestly, who wouldn't? "Star Wars" is so full of iconic sounds, which are only added to the film during post-production, so filming a lightsaber duel with zero sound effects feels like a cheat. At that point, who wouldn't be tempted to do their own lightsaber noises on set?
And it's not just the lightsabers, but blasters, too. A blaster sounds mighty different than any movie gun, and any kid would tell you that you can't simply pretend to shoot a blaster without shouting "pew pew." Even adults would agree, just ask Laura Dern, who kept saying "pew pew" so much while shooting "The Last Jedi" that you can even see her mouthing the words during a scene in the final film.
Getting to join the "Star Wars" franchise is worth rejoicing over, like how Hayden Christensen reacted to getting cast as Anakin by having a lightsaber battle with his roommate.