The Acolyte’s Joonas Suotamo Talks Playing a Wookiee Jedi at Star Wars Celebration

When it became clear that the wonderful Peter Mayhew would be unable to continue playing the iconic Wookiee, Chewbacca, due to declining health in his later years, Lucasfilm drafted in Joonas Suotamo, a Finnish basketball player standing at almost 7ft tall, to learn from Mayhew with designs on replacing him in the long term. As a more athletic figure, he was able to give Chewbacca a new lease on life, while continuing to embody the Wookiee with the loving personality fans had come to love. But now, he’s taking on a new role in the upcoming Disney series, The Acolyte in which he gets to do something not yet seen — wield a lightsaber. Speaking with Collider at Star Wars Celebration in London, where new footage from The Acolyte was showcased to fans, it was announced that Suotamo would be playing the first Wookiee Jedi Master — a role that came as a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one for Suotamo. “Well, my agent asked me, ’Would you be willing to play another Wookiee?’ I s