Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s young leads on stepping inside a galaxy far, far away
If you’re a fan of Star Wars, you’ve likely always wondered what it might be like to actually venture to a galaxy far, far away. Well, the new series Skeleton Crew may hold some answers. In this delightful coming-of-age tale, that harkens back to the golden age of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, four youngsters are sent barrelling through space on a thrilling adventure.
When Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter) and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) unearth an abandoned ship in the forest, an accidental press of an autocruise button results in an unplanned journey through space. Landing on a pirate colony far from home, it’s the group's goal - with the help of the mysterious, force-sensitive Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) - to find a way back. But with the pirate world hot on their heels, that’s easier said than done.
In my review of Skeleton Crew’s opening three episodes I said, “I can’t imagine there’s a better backdrop to explore the trials and tribulations of youth, as Star Wars is a franchise that thrives on nostalgia. The end result is a love letter to our inner child, encapsulating the magic, wonderment, and sense of adventure that Star Wars has always promoted.”
It isn’t simply Wim, Fern, KB, and Neel that were sent on a transformative coming-of-age adventure though, as were the young stars of the series Ravi, Ryan, Kyriana, and Robert - and I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the exceptionally-talented youngsters to unpack the experience.
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See the full interview below, where we also spoke to Skeleton Crew’s Jude Law, alongside co-writers Jon Watts and Christopher Ford.
“It was definitely initially kind of intimidating,” Ryan said of joining the franchise. “But Jon Watts, Christopher Ford and the whole crew really made it such a safe set for us - and, you know, kind of prepared us and guided us along. A lot of the crew worked on previous Star Wars [projects], which was fun, so they had lots of good stories to tell us.”
“And we got so much creative independence, I guess, with our roles,” she continued. “For Fern, Jon Watts gave me a lot of creative freedom, so I was really happy about that, and kind of incorporating [myself] into her performance as well.”
It’s something I suspected while watching the show. Each character has their unique role in the group. Fern is the natural leader. KB is quietly logical. Wim is joy personified, while Neel offers comedic relief. Having met the foursome in real life, it doesn’t feel like that is all that different from the way they function as castmates and IRL friends - something I was keen to enquire about, asking the group who is most like their character.
“Ravi,” Ryan, Kyriana, and Robert shouted in unison.
“I love playing some of my aspects into Wim,” Ravi replied. And, you know, making it my own while simultaneously bringing Ford and Watt’s vision to life.”
Of course, the experience of filming was unique for Robert who’s performance as Neel is a combination of on-set performance and motion capture, with the aid of puppetry. But was the young actor daunted? Certainly not.
“I didn't find it as challenging as I thought I would,” Robert began. “I knew that it was probably gonna be different. I was worried that it was going to be completely voiceover when I first saw him,” which definitely didn’t end up being the case. “But then I thought, okay, I can kind of do my own thing, which I'm really happy that Jon Watts allowed me to because I truly think it adds a lot to the character.”
Rather similarly, Ravi was able to imbue Wim with plenty of his own excitement. Wim, throughout the series, is constantly caught fanboying over the Jedi. With the young actor having an adoration of Mark Hamill, it wasn’t much of a stretch for Ravi to understand Wim’s adoration.
“I've always fanboyed over Luke Skywalker. He interested me so much. You know, Mark Hamill's performance is iconic. It's so intentional,” Ravi exclaimed. “My first introduction to Star Wars was A New Hope so, of course, he intrigued me the most and piqued my interest. It would be so exciting if I could work with Mark Hamill. That'd be so much fun. I had a fun time bringing some of my Star Wars knowledge, and some of my knowledge on Luke Skywalker, into my performance as Wim.”
Interestingly, this is one of the first times that childhood has actually been explored in the Star Wars universe, outside of the experiences of the select few force-sensitive children who are sent to the Jedi Academy. I was curious to ask if there’s an aspect of the Star Wars universe any of the young cast would like to pull out of the fictional realm and into real life.
“I would love to have an adventure like this in real life,” Kyriana said. “But I feel like while we were filming, it really was an adventure because we were all learning things at the same time our characters were learning things, so that was really cool. For my character, [KB], she over the course of the show was learning how to speak up and vocalise her opinion, and being on such a big set, I kind of had to learn how to do that [too]. That was a really great learning experience. And I'm so glad that I got to be a part of the Star Wars galaxy.”
Even now, it still feels that the foursome is in disbelief over the reality of now being a part of the Star Wars universe. With each of them professing their love of the franchise, I was keen to ask who their dream scene partner would be - timelines and practicalities aside.
“I’m still going with Luke Skywalker,” Ravi declared, with Robert in agreement.
“I’d have to go with Han Solo,” Ryan added. “I feel like that would be so much fun. And I think Fern and Han Solo would get along.”
“The Mandalorian,” Kyriana added. “Because it's around the same timeline. That would be really cool if The Mandalorian came along.”
“And then you’d get to meet Grogu,” I interjected.
“Neel and Grogu,” Robert said with a gasp. “No. Neel, Grogu, and a Porg.” Can you think of a better trio?
Bringing it closer to home, the group was full of praise for their castmate Jude Law, with Ravi summing up the foursome’s feelings nicely.
“Observing him, for me at least, was a learning experience in and of itself, and acting opposite him is even more crazy,” he said. “Watching him is so mind-blowing. It's crazy how experienced he is and how he's such a fun scene partner. I had already been a fan of his. I've seen some of his prior work, so now acting alongside him is so crazy. It really is.”
“It's so exciting,” Ryan added. “I've been a fan for a long time, so working with him was definitely an honour. And you know, now, not only is he such a legendary actor, but he's just a really, really great person, and every single day was just such a great day.”
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s first two episodes are streaming now, exclusively on Disney Plus.
Topics: Star Wars, TV And Film, Disney, Interview