How This Costume Designer Updated Jedi Robes for 'The Acolyte'
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We're always excited to see a new Star Wars project—especially when Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae are involved. How could you not be amped for The Acolyte?
And when we get to speak with part of the creative team, like costume wizard Jennifer Bryan, we're even more excited! As we learned speaking with her via Zoom, she comes from the world of contemporary TV with credits like Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad under her belt, and this was an exciting opportunity for her to flex different muscles.
We were able to ask about some of the new looks for the Jedi Knights, how she builds world and character through costume, what it's like pitching to Kathleen Kennedy, and more.
Let Bryan take you to hyperspace with her interstellar advice!
The Acolyte | Official Trailer | Disney+
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Editor's note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
NFS: I am a big Star Wars fan. I don't know if you were when you got this project.
Bryan: I was just in the general population of having seen some Star Wars movies. I wasn't a super nerd, but of course I am now.
NFS: That's going to be my first question then. This being an established universe, how do you approach the work of designing costumes?
Bryan: It's a first for me in terms of doing a project that is worldbuilding from scratch. I was very, very excited. I come from contemporary television. Somebody asked me that, about making that jump from contemporary to fantasy sci-fi, and I told them—costume designers, her toolbox has to be very wide, because you never know what you're going to be presented with as a work challenge. Especially if you've been trained, formally like I have, you need to be able to catch whatever comes at you.
I'd always wanted to do worldbuilding sci-fi, deep imagination, and things that you really have to come out from the well of your creativity. And this show provided that for me.
NFS: One thing that I noticed immediately was your spin on the Jedi robes. I'd love to hear you talk about how you arrived there and what your process was.
Bryan: I started my prep in the States and then eventually went over in June, and I had my first big presentation to Kathleen Kennedy. And when I was doing my research, I thought, "Wow, the colors of the Jedi!" I'm a colorist, that's one of the tools that I rely on heavily when I'm designing regards to what the period is. If I can bring color into it that's appropriate, I'll do that.
So I started doing my presentations, and I know the Jedi are already in the iconography of Star Wars, but because the timeline was before, a hundred years, I had a hundred-plus years out. Almost prequel-like. I knew I had some leeway. I took a stab. I thought, "I think the Jedi uniforms and color palette could be a little different, not too far off, but a little different from what we've known."
So what I proposed, and Kathleen Kenn...
Thanks for being part of the piece!