Star Wars: Why Jecki Lon From The Acolyte Looks So Familiar

"Star Wars: The Acolyte" has introduced a ton of new characters to that galaxy far, far away, as its setting in the High Republic era — more than 100 years before the events of "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace" — has yet to be explored outside of novels and comics. After so many stories set during and after the reign of the Empire, it's fun to go back to a time when the Jedi Order was thriving (at least on the outside).

One of the new Jedi we meet in the show is Jecki Lon, apprentice to Jedi Master Sol (Korean screen legend Lee Jung-jae). If Jecki looks familiar, that's because she's played by Dafne Keen, a true rising star who's already made a notable name for herself in both film and television since 2017.

Keen is a bit of an anomaly, in that she's been a pretty big name for years but has only appeared in a handful of projects. The roles she has taken are typically leading ones, or at least parts in franchises big enough to generate major attention. At the age of 19, Keen is still just getting started in what's sure to be a great career. Here's why the actor behind Jecki on "The Acolyte" looks so familiar.

Dafne Keen's first official screen credit came for playing Ana Cruz Oliver on the BBC Worldwide series "The Refugees," which explores what happens after millions of people from the future travel back to the past to escape a global crisis. Her performance on the sci-fi series clearly turned heads, as she was then cast in 2017's "Logan," one of the most acclaimed superhero movies of all time.

"Logan" is really where Keen became a known quantity in Hollywood. Her character, Laura, aka X-23, is one of the three main protagonists of the film — no small job when you're playing opposite Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart. Despite that pressure (and the fact that Laura has almost no lines in the whole movie), Keen shines. Her relationship with Wolverine is the emotional core of the story, and critics and audiences alike praised Keen's performance. She earned numerous accolades as a result, including a nomination for best young actress at the 2018 Critics Choice Awards and winning "best female newcomer" at the 2018 U.K. Empire Awards.

With her career already off to such a strong start, you might think that Keen would have dived into a ton of projects over the following years. Instead, she's stayed selective, eventually transitioning back to television at HBO.

If you thought making your film debut opposite two movie legends was a challenge, try starring in a high-budget adaptation of one of the most beloved children's book series of all time. That's exactly what Dafne Keen did when she joined the cast of HBO's "His Dark Materials" in 2019, a series version of Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife," and "The Amber Spyglass." Keen starred in all three seasons of the critically acclaimed show as lead protagonist Lyra Belacqua, and it's hard to imagine anyone else handling the role quite so well.

While starring on the HBO series, Keen also made appearances in the 2020 movie "Ana," playing the eponymous protagonist, and the 2021 BBC audio drama "The Battersea Poltergeist." Pretty much all of her roles up to this point have been prominent ones, and it should be interesting to see how her "Star Wars" character continues to develop. Though Keen is almost unrecognizable in "The Acolyte" it could become yet another iconic role for the young star.