The Acolyte: Carrie-Anne Moss’ Jedi Master Indara Is ‘Very Much Inspired By Trinity’ – Exclusive

It makes so much sense, you almost wonder why it hasn’t happened already. Given Carrie-Anne Moss’ astonishing action work in The Matrix movies – with their gravity-defying wire-work and rapid-fire hand-to-hand choreography – she possesses Jedi-level talents already. And in new Star Wars series The Acolyte, creator Leslye Headland is finally connecting all of those dots. Meet Jedi Master Indara, bringing martial-arts excellence to the galaxy far, far away. As seen in the show’s first trailer, not only will the part see Moss get caught up in hand-to-hand combat with Amandla Stenberg’s mysterious Mae – she also brings Force moves into her fighting. Yes: she knows Force-fu.

“She is very much inspired by Trinity,” Headland tells Empire of Master Indara. Casting Moss was, she says, a “no-brainer” – if it means Star Wars fans see Indara as ‘Trinity with a lightsaber’, that’s the intended effect. “I personally wanted to see someone who had the highest status you could imagine in a Force-fu fight – somebody that would come in and you immediately would be like, ‘Oh, that’s the most powerful Jedi in the room.’ And that’s Trinity,” Headland states.

As for Moss, she was immediately hooked by Headland’s vision for The Acolyte – likening it to her conversations with Christopher Nolan and the Wachowskis. “I felt that a few times in my career with some of the big things I’ve done – Memento, The Matrix – where you’re talking to the filmmaker and you just go, ‘Oh, they totally get it,’” she says. And Moss, too, got plenty out of jacking into the galaxy far, far away. “Within my soul and my spirit, to get to play this Jedi Master and train for the fight was [an] amazing experience,” Moss enthuses. “A part of me forgot how much I love action. I love it. It’s hard. But I was just really thrilled that I could do it, and I wanted to do it well. ‘Gimme another take! Gimme another take!’” Whatever dark side force is rising in The Acolyte: dodge this.

Read Empire’s full The Acolyte cover feature – going deep on Star Wars’ boldest streaming series yet, speaking to creator Leslye Headland and stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joonas Suotamo, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Rebecca Henderson, Manny Jacinto and Jodie Turner-Smith – in the June 2024 issue, on sale Thursday 11 April. Order a copy online here. The Acolyte streams on Disney+ in the UK from 5 June.