Ravi Cabot-Conyers Talks All Things Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows four children who get caught up in an adventure that finds them lost in the galaxy and searching for a way back home. Jude Law heads up the cast of the eight-part Disney+ series, which also features the likes of Encanto‘s Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Tunde Adebimpe. The series aims to shine a light on aspects of the Star Wars universe that haven’t had too much of the spotlight to date, including a suburban district where the children attend school and engage in day-to-day activities before their adventure.

In an interview with Game Rant, Ravi Cabot-Conyers discussed his character Wim in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. He talked about the plethora of new skills he gained while working on the series, what it was like to work day-to-day with Jude Law, his new-found love of stunt work, and what he’s going to be working on in the future. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Ravi Cabot-Conyers on Joining the Star Wars Galaxy

Q: What does being part of the Star Wars universe mean to you personally, especially at such a young age?

Cabot-Conyers: It is so exciting. It’s fascinating because children leading a Star Wars series is a very new and different concept. We haven’t seen it too much. I feel like children bring a certain wide-eyed wonder, along with their perspective, to the Star Wars galaxy, which is exciting. I’m so excited to carry on this legacy. It’s still surreal to this day, it didn’t feel real until I first got onto the set. Everyone’s so lovely. It was so fun to work with them on this, to carry on the Star Wars legacy, and to really play into the 80s-style movies.

Q: What can you tell us about where Skeleton Crew fits in the overall Star Wars timeline?

Cabot-Conyers: It’s around the same period as The Mandalorian and Ahsoka but, based on the environment, it’s really unique. It’s the suburbs, which is really different for Star Wars. It’s exciting though! I thought it was cool that we got to create that sort of environment for the first time in Star Wars. But, I feel like it would be so cool if we got to see Ahsoka, the Mandalorian, or Grogu in Skeleton Crew!

Q: Are there any cameos from any other Star Wars characters in Skeleton Crew?

Cabot-Conyers: Honestly, I really cannot say anything, but you’ll find some exciting things there that will make other Star Wars fans, or even people who aren’t Star Wars fans, happy and excited. It’s fun for everyone, and that’s the beauty of Star Wars.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your character Wim, his most defining character traits, and who he is as a person?

Cabot-Conyers: Wim is someone that I connected with from the moment I first got the material, he felt so truthful to me. He’s such a dreamer. He’s starry-eyed. He dreams of a more exciting reality, and he’s stuck in the suburbs, so his dad isn’t willing to indulge in his fantasies. He’s just not around much for Wim.

I really admire his traits, and some of them I share too, and I’m really happy about that. He’s really brave and hopeful, and he’s able to put a positive spin on almost any situation, which is so admirable. He really just cares for his friends and family. He wants so badly for everyone to be happy. He just wants something more, wants to escape.

I think that I share his adventurous traits. I’m very brave. I love doing stuff, but I wouldn’t say I’m as brave as Wim. Wim does a few crazy things! I also love my friends and family, and I really care for them, just like Wim. I loved playing into that. I got to do so much cool stuff which I’ve never done before, even some stunts, and it’s so cool. I get to do stunts in Star Wars! They are so fun, and I quickly realized I love doing them.

Q: By the end of the show, would you say you were satisfied with his character arc? Were you happy with where it ended up versus where it started?

Cabot-Conyers: The character arcs were so much fun to play around with because it felt like it took place over several months, even though the show only takes place over a week. We covered so much ground in a week, but I still feel like I grew with my character. Especially the story arcs about me and my father, and me and another character Fern. It’s really fun to watch, it’s enjoyable and a lot of it is so relatable.

Working With Jude Law on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

Q: What was it like working alongside Jude Law on a Star Wars project? Did he give you any acting advice and guidance?

Cabot-Conyers: Not only is he a nice, friendly, amazing person, but he’s also such a fantastic actor. He’s so grounded, he’s so giving, he’s so generous to other partners. He’s unlike any actor I’ve ever seen or worked with. The circumstances that his character goes through are always evident because he plays into them so well.

He’s always so focused on the set, which I admire. He works well alongside anybody, he’s a great scene partner, and he’s so generous to the directors too. He is such an experienced actor. We even like to talk about Shakespeare, and how fun it would be to do some of that together. We share a lot in common.

Q: How would you say that having him around influenced your own performance and your approach to your role?

Cabot-Conyers: He kept me very grounded. I feel like he was very helpful to everyone collectively and kept everyone grounded and focused, ready for the circumstances of the next scene and what it might bring. Being with him almost every day was so much fun because every day he’d surprise us. He kept raising the bar higher and higher.

I feel like I have developed so many skills as an actor, not only just from being on that for seven months and being with my character for seven months straight, but also from being around Jude Law and acting with him on a daily basis. He’s so fantastic. It was awesome.

Ravi Cabot-Conyers’ Biggest Lessons Learned From Skeleton Crew

Q: What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from being part of this production?

Cabot-Conyers: I would say teamwork. Because there was so much that went on around us, like being with your scene partner and playing well off of them. It was such a wide-scale production. There were so many people and everything was going on at once, I found myself shadowing a lot of the different departments. I would go over to the camera and see how they got things done, and they even let me pull focus at one point for someone else’s scene. I laid down the marks, I went over to sound.

I got invited to the editing suite too, watching the directors and editors. It was so cool watching the directors work with the editors and see how it gets done, then comparing that to what I’ve just watched recently, the finished product. It’s so amazing. It was so much hard work, and I hope that people will really recognize that. Of course, it was also so much fun, we had to leave some room for fun, too!

Q: If you could choose one Star Wars movie, what’s your favorite, and why?

Cabot-Conyers: I’m going to say A New Hope, because it was the first one that I ever watched. I’ve watched it plenty of times since, and then I watched it again in preparation for Skeleton Crew, so that I could get a feel for it again. It has such a nice comfy feeling because of how nostalgic it is. Luke Skywalker is so amazing, he grabbed my attention, and I feel like he really resonated with me. I feel like I can relate to him as a character.

Star Wars has been a huge part of my life for so long, and that’s why this was so exciting. I can’t wait to see what people think of it and watch the whole thing for myself too. It’s going to be awesome.

Q: What’s next for you? What future projects do you have lined up?

Cabot-Conyers: I have a beautiful indie movie coming out called Grassland, which is directed by two first-time directors who are only 12 years older than me, and it’s inspiring. They were so good, and it was such an intimate experience. I’ve seen it like three times already now! It’s such an impactful story.

I also have three animated projects coming out. I’m not sure when they’ll be out, but I have various ones in the pipeline. I’m also making my own short film. I’m writing, directing, editing, and producing it. Jon Favreau encouraged me to try it out because of how difficult it was. If I could accomplish that, I’d be so proud. I’m really glad he convinced me to do it.

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