Amandla Stenberg shared her thoughts on the cancellation of ‘The Acolyte’ in Instagram Stories that ran for over eight minutes.
“It’s not a huge shock for me,” the actress admitted. “Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality but for those who aren’t aware there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it.”
She continued her words, “That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language towards us.”
“This really affected me when I first got the job because it’s just not something, even though I anticipated it happening, it’s not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it’s happening to you, however, I feel like I’ve kind of moved through those feelings in various ways, including being vocal about it myself,” Stenberg added.
Earlier this month, it was reported that ‘The Acolyte’ was canceled after just one season, partly because of low viewership. Critics liked the show, but fans were divided, leading to a low 18 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Manny Jacinto shared the show’s last scene with a heart emoji on Instagram. Lee Jung-Jae talked about the early ending in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “As you know, my character had died already in the first season. So, I wouldn’t have appeared in the second season if there was one anyway,” he noted.
The actor added, “But personally speaking, I really loved Leslye’s writing. I thought that she was a great writer and director who was very talented in the storytelling, as well as creating characters and creating meaningful structures within the story. So, I was actually personally really looking forward to watching a Season 2 with her at the helm.”
‘The Acolyte’ started strong, with 4.8 million views on its first day and 11.1 million views by day five. It made it to Nielsen’s Top 10 but dropped out after Week 3 as viewership declined.
Writer Leslye Headland expected a possible cancellation and aimed to give a satisfying first season. Other ‘Star Wars’ projects are still planned, including a new series with Jude Law and more ‘Ahsoka’ and ‘The Mandalorian’ content.
