'Squid Game' star Lee Jung-Jae bags lead role in Star Wars spin-off show 'The Acolyte'

Squid Game actor Lee Jung-Jae has bagged the male lead role in the forthcoming Star Wars spin-off series, titled The Acolyte. It is pertinent to note that the actor's role is still kept under wraps, while the series is expected to start production later this year in London. 

The spin-off was announced by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the news was then confirmed on the official Twitter handle of Star Wars. The description on the official Star Wars website explained that the series is "a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era." 

Leslye Headland is the show's creator, director, and showrunner. Lee Jung Jae's inclusion in The Acolyte series is his first significant part following Squid Game, the popular Netflix drama that catapulted him to international fame.

Lee Jung-Jae on the professional front

In addition to this, Jung-Jae will return for Squid Game season two, which Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show's creator, predicted will air in 2023 or 2024. Jung-Jae won the Screen Actors Guild Award for the best male performer in the first season, making him the first Asian actor to do so. The actor, who has starred in K-dramas like Chief of Staff and movies like The Face Reader, The Housemaid, and the Along With the Gods series, is presently up for a lead actor award at the 2022 Primetime Emmys.

Image: Instagram/@from_jjlee