By George & Josh Bate
There is something so gripping and nerve-wracking about stories that takes kids and plummets them into perilous situations that even adults would struggle to tackle. That was the case with The Goonies, Harry Potter, and now is the backdrop for the new Star Wars series Skeleton Crew.
The HoloFiles and Star Wars Holocron recently participated in an exclusive roundtable interview with the young actors who bring the four main characters to life – Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Robert Timothy-Smith, and Kyriana Kratter. Alongside Skywalking Through Neverland, Ion Cannon: A Star Wars Podcast, and Fangirls Gone Rogue, the actors discussed fun behind-the-scenes stories, what movies they watched to prepare for their roles, their favorite episode of the series, and more!
Being in a Star Wars show has already been a life-changing experience for the young actors. And what’s a more notable symbol of how life-changing this experience has been than the fact that the actors now have action figures of the characters they play! “It’s crazy,” Neel actor Robert Timothy-Smith remarked. “I never imagined. I always played with these toys, and now that we have toys of characters is insane.”
Fern actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong had similar feelings about having an action figure of her character. “The first time I saw a prototype [action figure] of Fern I cried,” Armstrong said. “I balled my eyes out. It was such a surreal moment. It all became real so fast.”
The actors spoke of various memorable moments on the set of the show, but KB actress Kyriana Kratter noted that days involving stunt sequences were among her favorite. “I think another fun moment was the stunt days, where we were strapped into the roof, Kratter reflected. “I can’t say too much, because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I think that was really fun. All screaming together way too much. Things flying in our direction. That was really fun and exciting.”
Kratter’s character KB is described as a “cyborg,” having a cybernetic implant on the back of her head. Kratter explained that she drew inspiration from the character Lobot in The Empire Strikes Back in crafting her performance. “I think there was one character in The Empire Strikes Back…And so I took some inspiration from him. And also I looked at other robotic characters in other shows and I tried to find a balance between how robotic I was going to be, because I’m a cyborg.”
Ryan Kiera Armstrong, meanwhile, drew upon Harrison Ford’s portrayal of Han Solo for her role as Fern. “She reminded me a lot of Han Solo,” Armstrong discussed. “So I tried to incorporate little things or some lines and like I kind of watched some of his performances and then I tried to add my own twist on it. Fern’s twist.”
More broadly, the young actors revealed that they watched The Goonies and E.T. The Extra Terrestrial as a group ahead of filming the show. Wim actor Ravi Cabot-Conyers explained, “All together, we actually walked E.T. and Goonies. It was really fun, because it was a little bonding experience while simultaneously getting the feel for the nostalgia, 80s, E.T., Goonies, Amblin style.”
And, of course, watching Star Wars was part of their preparation. “I also watched Star Wars movies and The Mandalorian,” Kratters said. “Trying to get that Star Wars magic feel to it.” Meanwhile, Timothy-Smith revealed he watched the Ewok movies (which are now streaming on Disney+!) to prepare for his role as Neel.
In a wholesome moment in the interview, Timothy-Smith also explained how he tried to be more kind in his real life in order to play Neel as kind-hearted and sweet. “I wanted to make Neel very sweet and kind to the people around him,” Timothy-Smith explained. “So I just wanted to be as kind as possible. As the character, I wanted to bring that all the time. And I hope I did.” Making us further fall in love with Neel, Timothy-Smith also enthusiastically shouted, “Neel Nation!” when shown a LEGO mini-figure of his character Neel and jokingly said Wim’s purple pajamas in the show were a reference to Mace Windu.
Finally, the young actors each gave their opinion on what their favorite episode of Skeleton Crew is. Neel actor Robert Timothy-Smith said Episode 4 is his favorite. “My reason for Episode 4 is because it is a little more centered around Neel,” Timothy-Smith said. “It goes more into Neel than all the other episodes…I love The Daniels.” Everything Everywhere All At Once directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert directed a Neel-centered episode of Star Wars? Count us in.
Wim actor Ravi Cabot-Conyers said that Episode 8 (the final episode of the season) is his favorite, but that he also really likes Episode 6. “I like Episode 6 especially, because Bryce Dallas Howard directed it. She’s such a great director. I loved her episode.”
Fern actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong and KB actress Kyriana Kratter said that Episode 6 is their favorite of the series. Armstrong specifically said, “I think there’s so much character development in that episode. It was one of my favorite’s to shoot.”
Check out the full roundtable interview with Skeleton Crew stars Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Robert Timothy-Smith, and Kyriana Kratter below….
The two-episode premiere of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew debuts December 3 on Disney+.
Stay tuned to The HoloFiles and Star Wars Holocron for continued coverage of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, including weekly reviews, analyses, Easter Egg breakdowns, and more!