‘Squid Game’ Star Lee Jung-Jae Joins ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘The Acolyte’

"Squid Game" star Lee Jung-Jae has just been tapped to play the male lead in the upcoming Star Wars Disney+ live-action series, "The Acolyte."

Only one day after "Anne Boleyn" actress Jodie Turner-Smith was announced to be joining "The Hunger Games" alum Amandla Stenberg as the lead, Deadline reported that the 49-year-old South Korean actor would be joining the cast as the male lead.

Fans of both Star Wars and “Squid Game” were in for a treat on Thursday afternoon after Deadline learned that Lee Jung-Jae had been cast in his first major studio role since achieving massive success appearing in the dystopian Netflix series.

It looks like the cast is one of the most diverse casts in the franchise, with many fans anxiously waiting for more information to be revealed. Unfortunately, most of the details about the plot and the characters are under wraps for now.

In regards to Lee, he has won several major awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, six Baeksang Arts Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Gotham Award. The Emmy Award winners will be announced later this month.

Not only is Lee an accomplished actor, but he is also making his directorial debut in his film “Hunt,” which he also stars in. The film was recently acquired by Magnolia Pictures and will make its debut at the Cannes Film Festival premiere.

Earlier this week, Deadline reported that the 36-year-old British actress and model was announced to be joining the series earlier this week. Turner-Smith recently appeared alongside another Star Wars star, Adam Driver, in the film, "White Noise," which kicked off the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

Driver starred as Kylo Ren and the redeemed Ben Solo in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, which started with 2015's "The Force Awakens" and ended with 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker," which is still the last Star Wars film to ever hit theaters as Lucasfilm continues to focus on developing multiple Disney+ series, including "Ahsoka," "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "Andor," "The Mandalorian," and "The Book of Boba Fett."

Earlier this year, at San Diego Comic-Con, actress Amandla Stenberg, who played Rue in "The Hunger Games," revealed that she was joining the galaxy far, far away as she posed for several photos with R2-D2 and Darth Vader.

In an Instagram post announcing the news, "Next stop: a galaxy far, far away… I am so excited to finally announce I’m joining Star Wars: #TheAcolyte ! Honored is an understatement. May the Force be with you."

Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy, commented, “Welcome Amandla. The galaxy is better with you in it. ❤️.” Lucasfilm commented, “Welcome to the galaxy!” while Disney+ added, “🤩💫.”

The new series is being created by "Russian Doll" creator Leslye Headland, who will serve as the show’s writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Rayne Roberts is set to co-develop the series along with Headland. Production is expected to start in London this fall.

During its announcement at Disney Investor Day in 2020, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy teased, “Leslye Headland, Emmy-nominated creator of the mind-bending series Russian Doll, is a boldly innovative filmmaker bringing her new Star Wars series to Disney+. The Acolyte is a mystery thriller that will take us into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging Dark Side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.”

The latest Disney+ series will take place during the High Republic era, which ended approximately fifty years before the events of the first film in the prequel trilogy, “The Phantom Menace.”

In “Star Wars” terminology, an acolyte is a novice Sith who has just begun their training under a Sith Lord, similar to what a Padawan would be to a Jedi. This story will take place prior to Sith Lord Darth Bane developing the infamous Rule of Two, which states that only two Sith can exist at one time, meaning there might be multiple new Sith characters that will be introduced into the franchise.

Fans looking forward to seeing Lee Jung-Jae again in season 2 of "Squid Game" can check out everything Netflix has shared so far by clicking here.