Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is almost here, and star Ravi Cabot-Conyers was able to share some intel about his new character Wim and what it was like filming the long-awaited Disney+ series.
The show, co-created by Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts, is actually the first-ever children-led live-action Star Wars project. Joining 13-year-old Cabot-Conyers (Wim) is 14-year-old Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Fern), 14-year-old Kyrianna Kratter (Fern), and Robert Timothy Smith (Neel).
It follows a group of young children who get unexpectedly lost in the galaxy and must work together to find their way back home–which is lightyears away.
The Direct's Russ Milheim sat down with Cabot-Conyers in an exclusive interview to talk all about this new journey in a galaxy, far, far away.
Ravi Cabot-Conyers Explains His Skeleton Crew Character Wim
"He Always Tries to Put a Positive Spin on Any Situation."
- The Direct: "I want to talk about Wim. What's something that you feel makes him a unique character in this franchise that is filled with all of these people that audiences love."
Ravi Cabot-Conyers: I think it's really unique that this series is led by children because children bring a certain wide-eyed wonder to the Star Wars galaxy that I feel like adults might not... I feel like we, the kids brought so much energy and lightheartedness to the set.
And I love my character so much because he is really brave, really hopeful. You know, bringing the hero's journey archetype into this, into my character and into the universe, was so much fun playing into that. He's so brave and hopeful, and he always tries to put a positive spin on any situation. I feel like that's so admirable. He's really unlike all of his other friends...
He's a little bit different than Neel in the sense that Neel isn't completely on board with Wim's need for something greater and a greater, better reality, because they're stuck in the suburbs. Wim doesn't have a mom, so that's hard for him. His dad isn't really around too much. So, Wim is left to make his own fun.
And when he meets Fern and KB, I feel like we get connected over the journey... And I feel like Wim and Fern's relationship changes so much as we grow closer, the dynamic changes. Fern and Wim, I feel like, have such specific relationships to their parents, each one of their parents, and there's something so wonderful about Wim and Fern, separately and together, their dynamic. And I feel like that's really fun to see because it's relatable. It's fun to watch.
What Does Wim Know About the Jedi?
"He Has This Fantasy and Idea In His Mind That Doesn't Correspond With What the Galaxy Is Actually Like."
- The Direct: "Wim is a huge fan of Jedi. But what's interesting is that, he's [from this] secluded world that isn't in contact with anyone. What would you say he actually knows about Jedi and what has transpired in the world?"
Ravi Cabot-Conyers: I feel like he knows nothing about what the galaxy is like. He has this fantasy and idea in his mind that doesn't correspond with what the galaxy is actually like. He really believes the Jedi help people and that they just fight bad guys and celebrate victories. But, you know, it's not like that.
And then he realized that when he got stuck in the in the galaxy with everybody and it changed his perspective, and he had a very specific perspective on the Galaxy and Jedi in general. I personally love Jedi. I think they're so cool.
And I think most kids, too, would think that the galaxy, they see it through Wim's eyes too. I feel like they share that same perspective as Wim. And that's why I feel like it'll change a lot of kid's perspectives when they watch this, and it's really, it's gonna be really fun to watch for everybody.
... Wim loves his stories. Wim loves reading up about Jedi. And I think kids love learning about new stuff too.
Facetiming Tom Holland Thanks to Working With Former Spider-Man Crew
"We Were Going Stunt Training... [And] Got to Talk to Tom Holland."
- The Direct: "You got to work with Jon Watts, who directed three of the best Spider-Man movies. What was that like?"
Ravi Cabot-Conyers: He was so good. I think he did two of the episodes. And he was also a writer... I really liked his directing style, and it was funny, because we had so many different directors, they each brought their own unique take on the concept and the episodes.
We first talked on a Zoom call, me and Jon [Watts], and we talked about Star Wars-related things, non-Star Wars-related things... He's so cooperative and comfortable with any circumstance. He's such a fantastic director... Chris Ford was also another writer that worked alongside Jon, and they worked so well together.
And his stunt, the stunt director on 'Spider-Man,' who Jon worked with, was also on 'Skeleton Crew,' George Cottle. And, George, while we were doing stunt training, George Cottle Facetimed Tom Holland.
So we got to talk to Tom Holland, which is so much fun. And he was actually, he was actually on set when George called him. It was really funny.
Comparing Skeleton Crew to Stranger Things
"We Would Watch Stranger Things In Between Shooting Days..."
- The Direct: "One of my original thoughts just when seeing the trailer for the show is that this is like Stranger Things, but for the Star Wars universe. Is that a show you're familiar with, and is that a comparison you heard throughout the process at any point?"
Ravi Cabot-Conyers: I have heard that, like initially, that was what we heard. We heard 'Goonies,' 'ET,' Amblin style. I love that style. Personally. I was familiar with 'Stranger Things.' Actually, my co-stars and I, the kids, would watch 'Stranger Things,' in between shooting days, on the weekends, and stuff.
It was right around the time that Season 4 came out, I believe. And so it was like around Summer of 2022 when we started. So we were watching that. We were really into it. We also watched all those 80s styles, Amblin-style films, Steven Spielberg, you know, ET, Goonies, etc., and we watched them in preparation.
I had already watched it, too, but we watched it a second time in preparation for 'Skeleton Crew,' and we did a bunch of activities together to get to know each other. But, yeah, it was really fun playing into playing the homages [in] 'Skeleton Crew' from that style because I felt I was so familiar with that style, so that that was definitely really exciting.
Acting Across from Robert Timothy Smith's Neel
"He Brought His Own Comedic Twist to Each Scene."
Alongside Ravi Cabot-Conyers' Wim, his best friend in the show is Robert Timothy Smith's Neel, who belongs to a brand new alien race that has an elephant-like face, trunk and all.
- The Direct: "One of my favorite characters in the show is Robert Timothy Smith as Neel, who I thought was awesome and just endlessly hilarious. I assume you guys have a great bromance off in real life as well now?"
Ravi Cabot-Conyers: Robert really is funny. He's really funny on and off set. He brought his own comedic twist to each scene. And you know, like Jon said, he came at it from a very oblique angle, which I thought was, again, very funny. I can't talk about it enough.
And I feel like we worked really well together, because I also, this sounds really egotistical, but I think that I'm funny as well. Based on what other people have said, this is not my opinion, but based on what other people have said, I think that's why we worked well together. All of us really worked well together.
I also saw Ryan [Kiera Armstrong], who plays Fern, yesterday, and we were laughing about all of the memories that we had because this was two years ago... We've all changed a lot. And Ryan was like, 'Oh my God, you're so tall.' Everybody was so nice. Everyone was so fun to work with. All the kids were so much fun. We were all around the same age. I'd never really worked with people my age before. So it was really fun.
- The Direct: "Was Neil's suit entirely practical? How much of it was practical versus CGI?
Ravi Cabot-Conyers: So he had these, like, this is traumatizing. He had these rubber gloves that had the most weird feeling ever. It was like slimy, but rubbery. It felt so weird. And he would wear those, like you have these blue fingers, and he only had four fingers, so he had to have his hands like this when he wore the gloves, which must have been really painful. Props to you Robert...
And he had dots on his face, in addition to camera rigs that would wrap around like that and track his facial movements for some takes.
And then, for other takes, he would have the actual full mask with moving eyes, trunk, and ears, which was all operated by Legacy VFX, who does amazing Star Wars effects. And they have two Legacy puppeteers have remote controls like [those] you would use for drones and stuff that were connected that were rigged up to his eyes. So when they moved the joystick, it would move his eyes and his trunk. It was the funniest thing. I
It was so fun to work with. And all the aliens were really real, too. There were just like aliens just walking around, walking around the set; all of them were in full costume, full prosthetics. It was so funny.
Working With Jude Law in Skeleton Crew
"I Would Sneak On [Set] and Go Look on the Monitors and See Him Work."
- The Direct: "You got to work with Jude Law, who's one of the main characters in the show. What was it like working with him? And did he ever impart any particular advice onto you and on your co-stars?"
Ravi Cabot-Conyers: He was so amazing. Like, I can't even--it's hard to describe, like, he's such a generous scene partner and so giving. He's so grounded... He's respectful to the directors and his co-stars. And you know, he's really able to stay focused in between takes... In addition to being such a fantastic actor, he's such a nice guy.
If it was a scene we were doing together, we would both walk in opposite directions and run the scene to each other right before they called action; when they said rolling, there was a little bit of time. So we kind of got focused and grounded. Being around him was so helpful because he's so experienced he's had a lot of opportunities to do that...
Even if it wasn't my scene and I happened to be on set on the same day as him, I would sneak on and go look on the monitors and see him work, because it really was so interesting and so much fun. And I think that everyone else around us had such a fun time watching him and us work all together.
The full interview with Ravi Cabot-Conyers can be seen here:
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew releases on Disney+ on December 3.
