Star Wars: Why Yord Fandar From The Acolyte Looks So Familiar

Star Wars series "The Acolyte" steps away from the Skywalker family for once to focus on a tale set during the High Republic. It's many years before young Anakin Skywalker will be born, and it's an opportunity to explore new characters and a different focal point of galactic politics. Looper's review of "The Acolyte" insists the Force is strong with the show, and for many, the clear standout is Jedi Yord Fandar, played by Charlie Barnett. 

Yord is a Jedi Knight, and from his first appearance on Episode 1, it's obvious he abides by the rules at all times. He's almost like the Jedi Order's hall monitor, and while it may come across as annoying for some of the other characters, fans are getting a kick out of him. Social media is filled with posts from the so-called "#YordHorde" flooding their channels with appreciative memes. 

He serves as a nice foil to Sol (Lee Jung-jae), who wants to subvert rules by bringing Osha (Amandla Stenberg) along for their mysterious journey. And that excellent portrayal shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's followed the rest of Barnett's filmography. While a gig on a Star Wars show is a good way to raise one's profile, the actor's been holding it down for quite some time. 

Some of Charlie Barnett's earliest roles were on procedurals like "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." While those were brief appearances, he'd soon land a recurring role on "Chicago Fire" for several years; he would play the character elsewhere on the One Chicago franchise, like "Chicago P.D." 

Barnett plays Peter Mills, a firefighter following in his late father's footsteps by protecting the city. He goes through a lot of personal growth throughout the show's first three seasons, only to eventually leave the Windy City to pick up his life in North Carolina. However, the real reason Barnett left "Chicago Fire" was because the writers felt they did all they could with his character. 

It was undoubtedly tough for Barnett to be dropped from such a popular show relatively early in its run. However, years later, the actor spoke with Digital Spy about how it was ultimately for the best. "It was a blessing in disguise, and they all told me that," he said. "You never really see that in life, in general. You never see the bad moments becoming the good." Getting booted from the series allowed Barnett to pursue other roles, taking his career to new heights. 

"You" Season 2 brought a lot of changes with it. The central character, Joe (Penn Badgley), takes in a change of scenery from New York to Los Angeles, meeting a host of new characters. Naturally, the most prominent addition is Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), but Joe also meets Love's oldest friend, Gabe (Charlie Barnett). He's an acupuncturist who's far more spiritual than Joe, and he quickly became a fan-favorite (not unlike what happened with Yord Fandar on "The Acolyte"). 

Redditor u/iustitia21 enjoyed how the show subverted expectations for what Gabe could do, writing, "We are persuaded to discredit Gabe, yet he is the one that provides the most potent moment for Joe. Therefore we get a beautiful juxtaposition of Joe, a serial killer, the main character of this show full of flesh and blood, unintentionally aided by Gabe, who is almost pristine, criminally speaking." 

It was equally as fun for Barnett to play Gabe as it was for fans to watch, as he told ComicBook, "'You' is so much fun for me because I get to play something extremely different, something that I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by." It certainly was a stark contrast to Peter Mills from "Chicago Fire," and it further showed what he could bring to a very different type of story. 

Sooner or later, every actor joins a superhero franchise. For Charlie Barnett, that came in the role of John Diggle Jr. on "Arrow" Season 8. Barnett's version of Diggle's (David Ramsey) son is a far cry from his virtuous father, a result of getting neglected due to his mom and dad spending so much more time and effort on his adopted brother, Connor Hawke (Joseph David-Jones). In a future reality, Junior joins the Deathstroke gang, eventually trying to take over Star City. 

Needless to say, there was a lot to live up to, especially as such a prominent new character being thrown into the show's final season. But it was a challenge Barnett was willing to take, as he told ComicBook: "I will say I felt a little relief because I knew that I wasn't necessarily taking over a realm of the character. I was a new form of Deathstroke. 

Stepping into Deathstroke's mask were some massive shoes to fill. But Barnett brought a new kind of energy to the series just as it was on the way out, even if there are some unresolved "Arrow" plotlines that could've used some resolving before the show ended. 

2019 was a good year for Charlie Barnett, as he appeared on episodes of "You," "Arrow," and "Russian Doll," the twisty Netflix comedy series that sees him opposite Natasha Lyonne. Nadia (Lyonne) winds up in a classic time loop scenario that sees her reset to the same fixed point any time she dies. She soon meets Alan (Barnett), who exists in the same time loop as Nadia. The two must work together to figure out a way to break the cycle. 

"Russian Doll" was a huge critical hit when it came out, eventually receiving another season, which was released in 2022. Barnett also got to be part of the follow-up, which was undoubtedly a huge deal for him, as he enjoyed his time working with Lyonne. In an exclusive interview with Looper, Barnett explained how his co-star changed his life. "There [are] personal moments that I can say Natasha has really changed my life in sobriety, in a certain sense, and awareness of my abilities and pushing my own self from watching her create this whole mountain, [a] behemoth of a mountain," he detailed. "I've been inspired a lot."

From comedy to drama to action, Barnett has really done it all. Now, fans can see him play yet another fantastic character as Yord Fandar on "The Acolyte." Once his time in a galaxy far, far away is up, the actor's future is incredibly bright.