The Acolyte action choreography team breaks down the season’s highlights, including new fighting styles and a Wookiee Jedi

The fifth episode of The Acolyte brought the lightsaber action we’ve all been craving in a show set in the era when there were the most Jedi we’ve seen in live-action war of stars not yet. “Night” was the resolution of the cliffhanger of the previous episode and did not disappoint. The mastermind behind it, action director Christopher Clark Cowan, recently spoke with StarWars.com about his work on the series.

Cowan is no newcomer to the franchise, having previously worked on another highly acclaimed lightsaber-heavy sequence from the Disney era – the now iconic Darth Vader scene in Villain OneHe, along with stunt coordinator Mark Ginther and assistant fight coordinator and stunt choreographer Lu Junchang, who also doubled for Manny Jacinto, discussed key moments from the series so far. Take Jecki’s death scene, for example; Cowan said:

“I came up with this scene where Jecki is standing right in front of us and you see these three sabers stabbing holes in her. And we cut to Jecki and we say, ‘What just happened?’ And she wipes herself off and reveals Manny (Jacinto as the stranger) for the first time in all his evil glory. Goosebumps, for sure, when that moment happens.”

From the beginning, showrunner Leslye Headland wanted to incorporate martial arts into the series’ fighting styles (“My face lit up because it’s my dream to direct martial arts,” Cowan said of those interactions with her). She also wanted each character to have their own style, as Cowan explained:

“Mae’s fighting style is very direct, very unpredictable, very ‘I’m going to hit someone.’ She doesn’t worry about the subtleties. She just runs straight at her opponent and starts striking with her hands.”

The first confrontation in the series also had its own story points that had to be checked off:

“Leslye definitely wanted to try something different with this opening fight, as it’s mostly hand-to-hand combat. That’s something the Jedi, Force-sensitives or Sith don’t really showcase. Indara and Sol take a similar approach by trying to de-escalate the situation. They’re not just going to pull out their lightsabers.”

Carrie-Anne Moss was an absolute professional on set, as Ginther explained:

“She put in a hell of an effort in the shorter amount of time to learn the sword and the moves. She didn’t have a really long, extended training period like we usually do, but she handled it really well.”

Another complicated stunt was the fight between Mae and Sol on Olega in the second episode. Ginther said:

“When Mae fights Sol, she does this high flip kick and it’s very difficult to land. We have to do that over and over again on the day and Chris (Cowan) will spin it so that we know we can make it as dangerous as possible so you can feel that energy but (in reality) it’s safe.”

When Episode 5 began, everyone was excited about the challenge, but also scared of it. As Cowan put it:

“I really wanted that to come to life, especially when Jecki and Sol team up against him. I really wanted that to be the whole theme of what was on camera the whole time. They don’t let up, one after the other, one after the other, sometimes at the same time. Master Sol is clearly a beast with a lightsaber, and in my personal imagination his Padawan will absorb all of that and more.”

Another important moment for Cowan was to show the full potential of what Jecki could have become if she had survived the fight against the stranger:

“If for some reason she had survived her prime, she would have gone crazy. That’s what I really wanted to express.”

Episode 7 of The Acolyte brought another insane fight we didn’t think we’d see in live action. During the third act, we saw a Wookiee attack the Jedi, and three of them together barely had the Force to stop him. Cowan explained their approach:

“That was fun and difficult to figure out. You have to consider the sheer power of a Wookiee behind his saber strikes. You can’t just run into a Wookiee because he’ll knock you off balance. His saber will hit like a truck.”

And apparently all this was done by Joonas Suotamo, who didn’t have a double on set:

“We didn’t have a double for him, so Joonas came in and worked hard. It was all his thing. I think when it comes down to it, a lot of people will see the Wookiees very differently after this.”

Cowan summed it up with the following fascinating suggestion:

“And as much fun as it was creating Wookiee Jedi-on-Jedi action, we can’t wait to show you what’s coming in Episode 8. I can’t really say any more than that.”

The finale of the first season of The Acolyte streams on Disney Plus on Tuesday at 6pm PT / 9pm ET.