Star Wars: The Acolyte: Charlie Barnett Reveals Surprise Origin of His Character's Name

Yord Fandar's name has an interesting history...

By Jamie Jirak

Star Wars: The Acolyte is debuting on Disney+ next week, and the new series features an exciting line-up of actors. The new Star Wars series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with some of the show's cast, including Barnett, who talked about the origin of his Jedi character's name, Yord Fandar. Turns out, series creator Leslye Headland actually got the name from somewhere pretty fun...

"Lowkey, I just heard the story from Leslye and I don't know if she's going to beat me in the butt for saying it. But apparently, she is in a gaming group online and one of – I can't remember what game they play – but I think it's a live-action role-playing game," Barnett explained. 

"The friends invented a character named Yord Fandar on the game, and she stole the name and they didn't know basically until they read the first couple scripts and they're like, 'Hey, that's our guy,' and she was like, 'Trust me, he is very Yord.' So I think I have to give credit to them. But it is the fit for his humanity... or lack of humanity," he added with a smile. 

You can watch our interview with Barnett at the top of the page.

Charlie Barnett Teases Yord Fandar:

During Star Wars Celebration in London last year, Barnett had a chat with Collider and teased his character, and talked more about working with Headland. 

"I am a Jedi Knight, and I've got some really cool hair. I can tell you that." Barnett joked without revealing much else about his Star Wars role. "Leslye is an incredible writer, first and foremost, and the entire team. She's a playwright so she is invested in the story. I think what's most exciting for me, and exciting about working on this, is that through the language, through the development of these characters, you realize that bad and good is at the eyes of the beholder. You know, things are so multilayered and complicated, and it takes a really talented person to write a person that you can see from all of those angles."

"It's a comment on policing, honestly, in my mind, which is why it's so exciting," he added. "We're at a point where we're at our highest, and power can be a difficult thing." 

Related:

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4th.

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