Despite living a galaxy far far away, the main characters of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” lived a rather mundane life filled with boring classes and strict curfews on their home planet, At Attin. But that’s soon to change, when the rag tag group of kids, Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fren (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter) and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) find themselves blasting off to space after sneaking onto an abandoned starship. The Disney+ coming of age series follows the children as they go off on their own adventure in hopes of returning home, and encounter a mysterious force user played by Jude Law along the way. This homage to classic 80s films like “The NeverEnding Story” and “The Goonies” premiered last week with two episodes, with new episodes dropping weekly until January 14, 2025.
Character Media sat down with Kyriana Kratter days after the series premiere to speak about her time on set as KB, bonding with her fellow cast members and how it felt joining the world of Star Wars.
Character Media: First thing first: What drew you into acting? Who were some of your inspirations?
Kyriana Kratter:I was inspired by Michelle Yeoh when I saw her in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” she really inspired me to get into martial arts. Now I do Taekwondo and wushu and a little bit of jujitsu Then, I met the Daniels. They directed one of [the] episodes, I was [so] excited.
I started doing school plays, and I really loved it. I [also] started doing theater camps and I enjoyed doing [that] during the summer. I made so many friends, and I loved getting fitted for a costume. I loved just becoming a whole different character.
CM: What was the experience with getting the role of KB? Was it a long audition process?
KK:The audition was very secretive, I knew it was going to be big. I remember reading it, and it was a very short audition. I knew [KB] was going to be somewhat robotic… I wasn’t sure if she was just a complete robot or a cyborg — or if she [acted] like a regular girl. I worked on it for several days, just figuring out who [KB] was going to be. I ended up submitting two different takes, and there was one thing I did for the callback — it was a chemistry read that I did with Ravi Cabot Conyers. I used sunglasses in one of the scenes, I put them up and then I flipped them down, which is literally my character. I’m just so proud of my younger self for doing that. I think it was a big reason why I got the role.
CM: How did it feel when you found out that you would be part of a Star Wars franchise?
KK: Oh my gosh. I was so excited because Star Wars has been very special to me. It’s always been something that’s been around in our family. My dad has always shared stories on how he watched it in theaters for the first time and how that was magical. [He] had great memories of watching it with his brother, and he has all of these old Star Wars things in his closet. When I was younger, we had lightsabers lying around the house and we had a Darth Vader helmet [too.]
CM: The show definitely has that classic 80s family film feel, did you watch any of the classics like “The Goonies” to prepare for your role?
KK: Yeah, I watched a lot of those when I was younger. But in preparation, [Me and the other cast members] watched “Goonies” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” together. I think it was one of the first days we met, and it was just to see how the kids [in the films] interacted with each other and just how fun and magical it is.
CM: I’ve seen some of the interviews you and the rest of the cast have done. It looks like you are all a close knit group, what was the fondest memory you have working with everyone on set?
KK: My favorite memory [was] there’s one time — it was during lunch, we all got together in the hallway where all our dressing rooms were and we sat down on the floor and played “Roblox” together. And Ravi, he screen-recorded it so you could hear our voices and made a little editing montage of all of us. I like to rewatch it because we’re all screaming [since we] were playing this horror game. It just brings back all the good memories that we had and all the fun things that happened during “Skeleton Crew.”
CM: So the first two episodes dropped last week. How do you feel now that “Skeleton Crew” premiered? What are you excited for fans to watch in the upcoming season?
KK: I was shocked when I first saw it because all the other kids had watched it already. But I waited to see it on the big screen [because] I wanted it to be perfect when I watched it. It was just surreal and I watched it and my brothers were like, “Oh my gosh. That’s you.” I was in pure shock. My dad told me afterward that he felt like a little kid again watching it on screen. It’s crazy that it’s coming out and honestly ,I still [feel] like this is a dream. “Is this actually happening now?” It’s just amazing that I get to be a part of it now.
CM: Is there any particular thing that you want fans to like to watch out for in the upcoming episode?
KK: Oh yeah. I have to say that I feel like my character develops throughout the episodes, especially in episode six. I feel [KB] really finds herself and learns how to be her own person, learning how to make her own decisions and how to speak up. You know, I was kind of learning alongside her. I feel like her arc happened before I started [my own.] I feel like I’m similar to her in that way.
