Dafne Keen explains why her Padawan Jecki Lon is so much more than X-23 with a lightsaber in The Acolyte, Star Wars‘ upcoming TV show. Set a century before the Skywalker saga, The Acolyte increasingly feel like a fan-caster’s best dream. Showrunner Leslye Headland fell in love with Dafne Keen’s portrayal of X-23 in Logan, and decided she wanted to see X-23 with a lightsaber. But the character she’s created for Dafne Keen is so much more than that.

Speaking exclusively to Screen Rant, Dafne Keen explained why Padawan Jeck Lon is so very different to X-23 – particularly in terms of action scenes.

“Laura’s goal in Logan was to kill, and that was what you wanted to get to. However you had to do that, whether that was chopping heads off or stabbing them multiple times. In Star Wars, it’s the complete opposite. A Jedi doesn’t want to kill; the last thing they will do is kill. It’s all about deflecting and protecting yourself.

And also, it’s about the form, which I wasn’t used to. I was used to it just [being] messy and feral, and you were like an animal that was unleashed. Going to the stunt training, I had a lot of the stunt [team] having to tell me to just calm down. Instinctually, because that was most of the stunts I’d done, I would scream when I was hitting people. And they were like, ‘No, this is a meditation.’ It was really interesting to learn to approach it from a meditation standpoint, using breathwork and finding the beauty and the movement and the circularity of it all. As opposed to just the violence, which is where I came from.”

Jedi Are Warriors In A Very Different Way To X-23

Dafne Keen wowed the world when she burst on to the global stage in Logan. James Mangold’s movie called for an energetic 12-year old, Spanish-speaking child with martial arts skills – a ridiculously specific challenge. Mangold was won over when he saw a video filmed in Madrid, in which Keen demonstrated her phenomenal agility. The young actress found her role in Logan to be tremendous fun, chaneling a dark intensity and launching herself into brutal, feral combat.

As Keen rightly notes, a Jedi Padawan is a very different character to X-23. The principal difference is that X-23 was a killer, whereas a Jedi is supposed to revere life. The Jedi of the High Republic Era considered themselves champions of light and life, and they considered igniting their lightsaber to be a last resort. This explains why The Acolyte clips have shown a focus on martial arts; Jedi had learned to use non-lethal measures wherever possible.

Keen’s comments point to something deeper, though; the idea of conflict itself as a meditation. Headland’s Disney+ TV show is set during a time when the balance of the Force is shifting, and this will inevitably be experienced by the Jedi on a personal level. Given that’s the case, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see these meditations become somewhat troubles – and for the characters in The Acolyte to slip from their lofty ideals.