What a thrill and an honour, for an accomplished violin player like The Acolyte star Amandla Stenberg to not only have the chance to perform music from the original score for A New Hope, but for that to be arranged for her by none other than five-time Oscar winner and living legend John Williams. With music clearly as important to her as any other element of the filmic process, she discussed this unique opportunity.
Award-winning actor and singer Amandla Stenberg is the star of a new TV series in the Star Wars franchise, The Acolyte, and is also a keen violinist. In anticipation of the series launch, Amandla performed a stirring rendition of John Williams’ ‘Force’ theme, also known as ‘Binary Sunset’, arranged specially for her by the composer himself.
Posting the video of her performance to social media, Stenberg said that music played a key role in helping her get to grips with her character, Mae. “Music is always where I start when building a character,” she wrote.
“I got to spend months inside of the Star Wars scores while filming, developing a love like so many across the world for ‘Binary Sunset’ in particular.”
Performing at the newly-named John Williams Music Building on Sony Pictures’ historic Culver City lot in Los Angeles, Stenberg described it as “a once in a lifetime experience, and it’s something that I’ll hold forever”.
Stenberg also told the video’s viewers: “I don’t think that you can love Star Wars without loving the Star Wars score.”
