Warning: This article contains spoilers aboutStar Wars: The Acolyteepisode 5.
I had so much fun doing the death!
the actress tellsEntertainment Weeklyas part ofour just-released cover story on the bloodbath episode.
Dafne Keen as Jecki Lon in ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’.Christian Black / Lucasfilm Ltd.
DAFNE KEEN:Honestly, that’s what really sold me.
That was the first thing she said to me in our meeting.
I love playing dead!
Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett), Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen), and Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) on ‘The Acolyte’.Lucasfilm
They’re getting to it and then she dies and it’s like, What the f—?
What do you mean?
So many people wouldn’t have gone and killed the young Padawan.
Dafne Keen on ‘The Acolyte’.Lucasfilm Ltd
Hey, you gave him a good fight!
It was a huge honor to get to be the person that took the helmet off him.
That was something really exciting to me.
Dafne Keen of ‘The Acolyte’ at Star Wars Celebration 2023.Rachell Smith
And also… he cheats!
She was winning until he cheated!
You killed a child!
Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, and Charlie Barnett of ‘The Acolyte’ at Star Wars Celebration 2023.Rachell Smith
And also, just how brutal Charlie’s death is, is insane to me.
It’s so crazy.
I love this episode.
Episode 5 is my favorite.
I’m glad you spotted the playfulness.
And Mae is so cheeky.
Every time she kills a Jedi, she has a whole little speech that she gives.
Its so camp and over the top and fun.
The first thing I ever did wasLogan, which was very much those kinds of fights.
So getting to do that, I was like, I know this.
We had so much fun on set.
We were laughing all day.
I was choking her and she’d be like, Sorry, no, we have to stop.
This is too hilarious.
And she’d be like, But I don’t want to hurt you.
And I’d be like, Dude, we’re good.
Just sell it!"
But the energy that Manny’s character brings into it is so incredibly different.
It is like, I will kill you.
You are now defending your life.
She’s doing all these really cool moves and then he’s cheating and he’s killing her.
And there’s such a ruthlessness in how he does it.
He’s so arrogant.
He’s not really engaging in anything that I’m giving him in the fight.
He’s just kind of like, whatever.
I literally slipped and fell on my ass.
And then he’d be in I want to learn the fight mode, which was hilarious.
You said what sold you on doing the show was the fact that you got to die.
So tell me about filming the actual death scene.
It was really fun.
I had so much fun doing the death.
it’s possible for you to see her accepting death.
She’s not angry at him.
And this kind of Jedi acceptance.
Oh my god, yeah.
Me and Charlie were joking about that all the time.
It was just an ongoing meme on set that me and Charlie were about to die.
I also remember I had a really funny moment with JJ, who barely speaks any English.
We’d been doing a really long day and I was like, I die tomorrow.
And JJ just looks at me and goes, I wish.
And then he laughed.
Everyone was just in on the joke that me and Charlie were just so excited to die.
Even before this episode, Leslye had beenmurdering Jedi left and right.
Every episode, someone’s getting cut down.
Why are we concerned by the story?
Why do we care?
If youre writing Jeckis obituary, what would you say about her?
I would say Jecki was a loving, dedicated Padawan to her Master Sol.
But I’d mainly say kind, giving, funny, dedicated, and talented.
Hopefully, you see that in that fight scene.
You see that this little 18-year-old is kicking ass, and the guy has to cheat to win.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
