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Get to Know the "Star Wars" Universe's First Queer Showrunner

In a galaxy far, far a gay...

Gay geeks, get ready to meet your new queen.

Leslye Headland of Russian Doll fame will serve as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner on a forthcoming Star Wars series on Disney+, making her the first openly LGBTQ person—and the second woman—to call the shots on a live-action project in the franchise.

Headland's show, an untitled Disney+ series about Obi-Wan Kenobi, is set to shoot in 2021. She follows in the footsteps of Deborah Chow, who directed The Mandalorian, Disney's successful first stab at serializing George Lucas's iconic sci-fi 'verse.

News of Headland's groundbreaking gig broke in May, but in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the writer-showrunner got real about being a gay woman in Hollywood.

"The hardest part is getting in the room," Headland confessed on the magazine's Untold Stories podcast when asked about her career.

And what's the number-one way to get into the room, in her opinion? "When people send the elevator back down for you."

It's something Headland hopes to do more of, she added:

The real joy is when I read a young woman's script, or a young woman of color's script, or a young LGBTQ writer and say, "Oh my God, this is great. This is great. I'm going to send this off to this person. You know who I know would love this? It is so and so. I'm going to send that to that person." I don't say that in an altruistic way or yay me, or I'm a good person. I'm saying that actually makes me happy.

Grab your lightsaber and listen to Headland's full interview with EW here.

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