Star Wars: Why Mae And Osha From The Acolyte Look So Familiar
"The Parent Trap," "Legend," "Counterpart," and now "The Acolyte" — what do they all have in common? Twins. Playing identical siblings is a rare opportunity for an actor, and it's the conceit at the center of the latest Star Wars series. "The Acolyte" follows both Osha, a former Jedi Padawan, and her twin sister Mae, who's been seduced by the dark side of the Force. Young star Amandla Stenberg plays them, and if the characters look familiar to you, there are plenty of reasons why that might be.
Stenberg, who uses both she/her and they/them pronouns, has been a known quantity in Hollywood for years. They started out as a child actor in some high-profile 2010s movies, and since then, they've built an impressive filmography across TV and film. Stenberg has also established herself as an outspoken advocate for queer rights, racial equity, and intersectional feminism. They've become as much of an icon out of character as she is in character, with appearances logged in everything from Beyoncé's "Lemonade" visual album to guest-judging on "RuPaul's Drag Race."
Now, Stenberg has added "Star Wars protagonist(s)" to her already lengthy resume. "I like to think of them as yin and yang," the actor told StarWars.com when asked about the challenge of playing twin sisters. "They've had very different life experiences that have taken them on different journeys." Here's why Mae and Osha from "The Acolyte" look so familiar.
Amandla Stenberg rose to fame after playing Rue in The Hunger Games
Amandla Stenberg earned their first screen credit for playing a young version of Zoe Saldaña's character in the 2011 thriller "Colombiana." However, it was the next year when they truly broke out in the 2012 film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" — one of the biggest and most influential movies of the decade.
Stenberg played Rue in "The Hunger Games," and though she was only 13 when the movie came out, she captured audiences' hearts as the young tribute who befriends lead protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) during the brutal "games." She may just be a supporting character, but Rue is arguably the film's emotional core, and Stenberg's spectacular performance only makes her tragic story more heartbreaking.
After "The Hunger Games" became an enormous hit, Stenberg was launched to young stardom. They subsequently landed a couple of notable TV roles, playing Macey Irving for four episodes on the Fox fantasy series "Sleepy Hollow" and Halle Foster on the short-lived 2015 sitcom "Mr. Robinson." After voicing a minor character in the 2014 animated film "Rio 2," Stenberg returned to live-action dramas as a young adult with 2016's "As You Are" and 2017's "Everything, Everything," establishing herself as far more than just a one-time child star.
She starred in 2018's The Hate U Give
Amandla Stenberg kicked off 2018 by starring in the dystopian sci-fi movie "The Darkest Minds." They followed that up just weeks later by playing the main character, Starr Carter, in "The Hate U Give." An adaptation of Angie Thomas' bestselling young adult novel, "The Hate U Give" explores the violence of racial profiling and police brutality through the eyes of a Black teenage girl. Stenberg's performance earned them a number of accolades, including a nomination for best young actor/actress at the 2019 Critics Choice Awards and a win for outstanding actress in a motion picture at the 2019 NAACP Image Awards.
Stenberg closed 2018 with a third starring film role in the World War II drama "Where Hands Touch." She stayed active over the next few years, returning to TV to play Julie on the 2020 French-American series "The Eddy," and starring in the 2021 film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Dear Evan Hansen," opposite Ben Platt, Kaitlyn Dever, and Julianne Moore.
In 2022, Stenberg starred in Bodies Bodies Bodies
If you haven't noticed yet, Amandla Stenberg has made a career out of starring roles. They added another to that ever-growing list in 2022 by joining the cast of the horror comedy "Bodies Bodies Bodies" alongside the likes of Maria Bakalova, Myha'la Herrold, and Pete Davidson. The film received high praise from critics, placing yet another win on Stenberg's filmography.
"The Acolyte" is definitely Stenberg's most high-profile project since then, though she kept busy in 2023 as well, appearing in the queer horror film "My Animal" and voicing Spider-Byte in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." Depending on how the 1st season of the Star Wars series ends, we could be seeing a lot more of Stenberg in the franchise for years to come.
"Sci-fi is so incredible because it allows us to look at our world with less fear," the actor told GQ when asked about her decision to join the galaxy far, far away. "I knew it would shape my life for a long time, so is this how I want to spend my life? And then, in a strange way, I kind of felt like [this is] oddly, maybe, exactly how I want to spend my life."