The Matrix Star Has Just Joined Star Wars
The Matrix star Carrie-Anne Moss has joined the cast of Star Wars: The Acolyte.
The Matrix star Carrie-Anne Moss has joined The Acolyte, the upcoming Star Wars series for the Disney+ streaming service. According to Deadline, Carrie-Anne Moss is joining The Acolyte along with Rebecca Henderson (from Netflix’s Inventing Anna), Dafne Keen (best known for the HBO series His Dark Materials), and Charlie Barnett (of Netflix’s Russian Doll). Although The Matrix and Star Wars are both some of the most influential franchises in modern science fiction, Carrie-Anne Moss joining the show is one of the first significant overlaps between the two.
It is currently unknown what role Carrie-Anne Moss will have in The Acolyte, though it is probably safe to assume they are not bringing The Matrix’s iconic Trinity into the Star Wars universe to just be a background character. In addition to starring as Trinity in all three original Matrix movies and the recent reboot of The Matrix Resurrections, Carrie-Anne Moss has previously appeared in a number of other shows under the Disney umbrella (like Star Wars). She starred as morally ambiguous lawyer Jeri Hogarth in the Netflix Marvel shows, eventually appearing in Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and the crossover Defenders series.
While Carrie-Anne Moss will undoubtedly always be best known for The Matrix (which is kind of what happens when you are an integral part of one of the most important science fiction movies of all time), she has also been part of many other significant projects. She starred in the influential Christopher Nolan thriller Memento with Guy Pearce and her Matrix co-star Joe Pantoliano, the Shia LaBeouf Rear Window semi-remake Disturbia, and the Johnny Depp romance Chocolat. Suffice it to say, even without The Matrix and Star Wars, Carrie-Anne Moss has been in some interesting movies.
The Acolyte was created by Leslye Headland, who is best known for creating the widely acclaimed time-loop series Russian Doll for Netflix, and further co-developed with Lucasfilm producer Rayne Roberts. The series is set in the final glory years of the Galactic Republic (approximately a century before The Phantom Menace) and will star Amandla Stenberg (known for Dear Evan Hansen and The Hate U Give) and Lee Jung-jae (of Squid Game fame) in the lead roles. The plot has been described as involving a Jedi reuniting with their former instructor to investigate a conspiracy, which probably will end up involving the Sith as they ramp up their evil plots.
Considering The Matrix was pretty much predicated on the idea of the biggest, most mindblowing conspiracy imaginable turning out to be true, it is a good call to recruit Carrie-Anne Moss for Star Wars. Leslye Headland has described the show as being set during a time period in which the Jedi are not as ascetic and monk-like as depicted in the prequel trilogy, and that wuxia martial arts films were a primary influence, so we will hopefully be getting some wild fight scenes.
Filming just recently began in the United Kingdom for The Acolyte, and there is no announced release date for the eight-episode series.
