[This story contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew‘s sixth episode, “Zero Friends Again.”]
For Star Wars: Skeleton Crew star Kyriana Kratter, life has imitated art in more ways than one.
Created by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, the well-received Disney+ Star Wars series centers on four 10-year-old kids who discover an out-of-commission starship and accidentally launch themselves deep into hyperspace. Kratter’s cybernetically enhanced character, KB, along with her best friend Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), are joined by schoolmates Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), as they eventually dock their ship at a port and encounter Jude Law’s disgraced pirate, Jod Na Nawood. With the latter seeking a reward in exchange for his help, the mismatched party of five must find a way back to the younglings’ mysteriously sheltered home planet of At Attin.
Like their characters, Kratter and her young castmates experienced their own adventure in joining a galaxy far, far away and bringing their Amblin-inspired Star Wars story to life. The foursome became dear friends upon their first meeting at Manhattan Beach Studios, and similar to KB and Fern on screen, Kratter and Armstrong are now thick as thieves off camera. Internally, Kratter and KB are both introverts, and the now 14-year-old actor says that she learned to assert herself at the same time that KB did in director Bryce Dallas Howard and writer Myung Joh Wesner’s sixth episode, “Zero Friends Again.”
“KB was learning how to speak up in episode six, and I was also learning how to speak up when I was on set. My whole life, people have said, ‘Talk louder, speak up,’” Kratter tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I love doing different takes, but sometimes, it was scary to ask for one on such a big set. But I did end up asking [Howard]. I wanted to try a version that was just a little bit more angry. And Bryce was just like, ‘Yeah, go for it!’ So that was really amazing because it built up my confidence.”
Kratter is referencing the scene in which KB finally confronts Fern for repeatedly ignoring her counsel and failing to take her physical condition into account. KB, at some point in the near past, suffered an undefined accident, leading to cybernetic implants in the back of her skull and a visor that connects to them. The character’s augmentations (“augs”) and lifestyle are meant to mirror the disability experience, while still providing her with high-tech capabilities that become invaluable to the group’s quest back home.
“Part of KB likes that Fern treats her like an equal, but, in reality, KB is different. And that’s okay. But it gets to a point where Fern treats her so normally that she puts KB’s life in danger, and that’s really why KB was angry at Fern,” Kratter says.
Below, during a recent spoiler conversation with THR, Kratter breaks down KB’s arc through episode six, before offering an ominous tease for the final two episodes of Skeleton Crew season one.
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Well, let’s start at the beginning. How many hoops did you have to jump through until KB was yours?
I did the audition in January of 2022, and then I had a director session and a chemistry read with Ravi [Cabot-Conyers] and Ryan [Kiera Armstrong]. I didn’t even know that it was Star Wars when I did the first audition, and the script was really short. It was just a little over one page, and it was really top secret. We had to sign something. But from the script, I figured out that my character was somewhat robotic. I just wasn’t quite sure if she was a complete robot or if she was a normal girl with some special abilities or enhancements. So I ended up submitting two different takes: one that was really robotic, and one that was more of a cyborg approach.
For the chemistry read, the scene that I did with Ravi was actually a scene from episode six when KB is dying, but it was a modified version. We were on a beach, and I had sunglasses [on my head] that I flipped down in the middle of the scene. So, looking back, I’m really proud of myself for doing that because that’s literally KB.
You wore sunglasses without knowing she’d have a visor?
Yeah, I had no clue that she would have a visor.
Amazing. How many months was the entire casting process?
It might’ve been a week or two weeks, but I found out the same month that I did the audition. Whoa, today is January 1st [2025], and I did the audition three years ago in January 2022.
Did you ever figure out that it was Star Wars before they revealed it to you?
No, they told me during the director session, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, the pressure is on.”
You were previously on a Disney show called Bunk’d. Do you think that got you on a casting list for Skeleton Crew?
Possibly. It’s hard to say. But I’ve always been a Disney girl, and maybe they were like, “This could work.”
You mentioned that your chemistry read with Ravi was a scene from episode six. Did your chem read with Ryan resemble anything the two of you would perform later?
I think they actually cut out that scene, but we all had fake names. I was “Kylie,” and while I can’t remember what Ryan’s name was, Ravi’s name was Wyatt.
Who delivered the good news to you?
I was coming home from running really late at night, and my dad had this weird smirk on his face, so I knew something was up. He was like, “I’m getting a call from your manager,” which really weirded me out. I thought something bad happened. But then my manager called and said, “You got the part!” I’m pretty sure I did the chemistry reads earlier that day, and because it was so late at night, I thought it was a fever dream or something. I had to confirm the news the next morning and make sure it was real. So there was lots of crying, and it was really great.
I believe it was your dad who introduced you to Star Wars through A New Hope. Was he especially proud when he learned that you joined the galaxy?
Yes, and my grandpa, too. They were all really happy and really excited. When I took my dad to the set for the first time, he was fangirling over all the little creatures. I was also fangirling every day I was on set.
You could tell your family that it was Star Wars, but you probably had to keep everything else about the show a secret. Did they figure the story out once they went to set?
My dad was only with me for two days. Normally, my mom takes me; she’s my momager. (Laughs.) So she figured it out because she works on all the scenes with me. She’s the best. She’s my little acting partner. But my dad had no clue what the plot was, and so the whole show was a surprise to him. He watched episode six last night while he’s out of town, and he was like, “You died!?” But it was only temporary.
Once you were cast, how much bonding time did everybody have?
We had multiple months before we started filming. We all had to do a ton of fittings, and I had to do a ton of fittings for KB’s “augs” and visor. I then had to get a haircut and shave the side. I also reached out to Ravi, and so we called each other and played Roblox on FaceTime. In June [2022], we got together in L.A. and had lunch with his mom. That was the same day we went to Manhattan Beach Studios and saw the other kids. That was the first time we were all together, and we immediately clicked. We immediately became best friends, and we got to see our dressing rooms for the first time. Prior to that day, I remember production reaching out and asking, “What are your favorite things? What’s your favorite color? What do you like to watch?” And I said, “My favorite color is pink. I like watching Studio Ghibli [anime].” So once I went inside my dressing room, there was pink everywhere: pink blankets, pink balloons, pink tissue paper. The walls were also covered with these anime-style sketches of Star Wars characters. So I started crying again. I was like, “Wow, everything is going to start up. I’m going to be filming in Star Wars.” I then cried again with all the other kids.
And part of that bonding time also involved watching E.T., Stranger Things and The Goonies?
It might’ve been a week after, but we went up to the classroom [at the studio]. There were all these beanbags and a snack tray, and we watched E.T. and The Goonies. After that, we played Mario Party and Mario Kart.
Did you have to attend school after filming most days?
Well, sometimes, we could bank hours. I would stay later because of the traffic, and do schoolwork after we filmed. But, on some days, we would do an hour extra, and that hour would be banked. And if we had a day where we needed to film a lot, we would use those banked hours so we’d still have enough school done.
Ravi dressed up as Jon Watts for Halloween. What did the rest of you do for your costumes?
I don’t think Robert got the memo, so he was a horror character. I don’t know who; I don’t watch horror. I get scared. Ryan was a P.A. named Thomas, so she had a beard, a hat and sunglasses. Thomas does this walkie talkie thing where he’ll hear something and stop suddenly to listen closely. And he’ll be like, “Copy that.” So Ryan did that too, and because she’s an actress, it was literally perfect. Same with Ravi. His Jon Watts impression was perfect. I dressed up as Catfish [Christopher Walmer], who’s a boom operator. My mom found this fancy feather duster that you could make longer and shorter, and so I would actually feather dust the shelves around the campus. I also wore these long shorts and a graphic tee, which he always wears. We then took a photo together, and we actually look pretty similar even though he’s six-foot something.
It seems like you and Ryan have remained friends off camera. Did your real-life friendship benefit your fictional one as the weeks/months went by?
Definitely. After months of filming, we could look at each other and know what the other was thinking. But I feel like we bonded even more after we stopped filming, because, at work, we have to be professional. When we hang out together outside of work, we could goof around and really be ourselves.
I noticed early on that Fern (Armstrong) and Wim (Cabot-Conyers) didn’t treat their best friends, KB and Neel (Smith), as well as they should. Fern, in particular, dismissed KB’s advice multiple times. Did you notice that mistreatment right away?
Yeah, KB didn’t have any friends for a while, and she really took a liking to Fern because Fern would treat her like she was normal. So she felt normal for once when she was around her, but KB has always struggled with expressing her emotions. So she dismissed Fern’s mistreatment because she was her only friend.
That story point comes full circle in the sixth episode. Were you glad that KB finally stood up to Fern?
Yeah, I waited so long for that episode. When Fern would dismiss KB’s advice throughout the episodes, I would try to include little things so it would lead up to that arc in episode six.
Would you give a frustrated look whenever Fern walked over her?
It was more how KB would talk to Fern when she did talk. In episode one, when KB said, “Fern,” I decided to say it like a warning. It was like, “Fern, what are you doing? Isn’t that going a little too far?”
I rewatched the first episode after episode six, and you can really see how reckless Fern was with KB. She already had an accident of some kind that resulted in her augmentations, and Fern still decides to endanger them both by speeding between two buses on her hoverbike. So their confrontation in episode six had really been brewing since before the on-screen story started.
Yeah, the combination of Jod’s betrayal, her augs feeling weird and Fern saying that everything is going to be okay when it’s not, KB was just tired of it. She was also scared because her augs have never gotten that bad, and her parents weren’t there to help her. But Fern just dismissed it and was like, “Well, let’s just climb up to the ship.” But KB can’t do that. Part of KB likes that Fern treats her like an equal, but, in reality, KB is different. And that’s okay. But it gets to a point where Fern treats her so normally that she puts KB’s life in danger, and that’s really why KB was angry at Fern.
Bryce Dallas Howard directed episode six, and being an actor herself, did she give you some valuable notes that helped your performance?
It’s so cool that we can talk about this now. KB was learning how to speak up in episode six, and I was also learning how to speak up when I was on set. And since Bryce is an actor, she just knew what we love to do and how to direct us. I love doing different takes, but sometimes, it was scary to ask for one on such a big set. I also admired Bryce so much that I was like, “Should I ask her for one?” But I did end up asking her. I was like, “Hey, can I try another take for this scene?” It was the scene where KB walks away from Fern, and Fern comes after her. It was right after Fern said, “Let’s just climb up. The ship’s right up there.” So KB finally spoke up for herself, and I wanted to try a version that was just a little bit more angry. And Bryce was just like, “Yeah, go for it!” So that was really amazing because it built up my confidence to ask questions and speak up for myself about doing different takes.
I wonder if they used the angry take in the final cut.
I think they did.
It pays to speak up, doesn’t it?
Yeah, it paid off.
Out of all her traits, did you relate most to KB’s shyness?
Yeah, we’re very similar in that way. My whole life, people have said, “Talk louder, speak up.” I used to do singing, and they’d be like, “You need to project. Use your diaphragm.” So we’re similar in that way, but KB was slightly ahead of me in learning all of these things. And now, when I watch the show, it all hits a little deeper. I feel like I’m now learning these things that she learned in the show. I even used to write really small because I was just so shy about what I was writing, but I feel like I’ve grown a lot from being KB. What she learned was written out for me, and so I learned from that.
She references the accident that resulted in all of the augmentations to her body. How much do you know about the accident itself?
I created my own backstory so that everything was clear when I was acting. That prompted everything I did, but nothing is official yet. So I just used what I wrote for myself, and I made it broad just in case.
Like Lobot before her, KB is still human, but she has a visor that connects to cybernetic implants or “augs” in her skull. Did Watts and Ford ever tell you to play her like a human computer? Which way did they want you to lean?
I remember one of them saying, “We like you as KB because she’s a real girl.” They said something like that. But when I sat down with Jon Watts, I had a little piece of paper with a bunch of questions, but he just let me decide on my own. In the first episode, I made her more robotic. And then, as the episodes go on, she gets a little less robotic because she’s learning from these experiences. In episode six especially, she becomes more human. But in the end, she’s still a real girl, even if she can’t express her feelings as well as other kids because of her augmentations. Part of her brain is a machine, and that’s helpful in some ways. She’s really good at analyzing things and recording things, but it makes it a little bit harder to make friends.
Is there any rhyme or reason for when she lifts her visor to look at something?
This question just made me so happy. The visor helps her see better and scan things, but sometimes, she uses it to hide when she’s scared. In episode two, she’s walking around Borgo and looking at all the weird pirates and weird little creatures. So she has her visor up to see the animals because she loves animals. But then there’s this guy marketing this weird flying thing, and it gets too close to her, so she puts her visor down because she’s scared. So she uses it to hide sometimes, which she’s learning to no longer do. There’s a moment in episode one where she’s in her garage with Fern, and she has her visor up while working on the broken-down hoverbike. So she’s talking to Fern with her visor up in the comfortable environment of her home, but when the bullies come around, she then puts her visor down because she’s scared again.
Does KB stand for anything?
Well, nothing is official yet, but I made it stand for “Kyriana Baddie,” because KB is the baddie version of me. Whenever I would see KB in the script, I’d be like, “Okay, this is baddie girl mode,” which really helped me.
When you watched episode six for the first time, was that the first time you saw what the new ship looks like?
I saw a rough copy during ADR, but there were watermarks all over it. Some of the effects also weren’t finished, and so I didn’t see the final copy until I watched episode six.
In episode three, Jod asked KB if she sleeps, and she didn’t answer. Does she actually sleep like a human? Or does she put her system in sleep mode like we do with our computers?
I don’t know what I can say. Nothing was written down, so I created my own idea where she does flip to sleep [mode]. But she still closes her eyes and sleeps like a normal person.
Jod has to look after the kids until he doesn’t. Did Jude also serve a paternal role with all of you young actors?
Yeah, when we were on set, he was very professional, but then he would also joke around and get to know each of us. So he was almost like our set father, and he bonded with each one of us. He did Secret Santa with us, and I was so happy that I got him. So I made him this little drawing of all of us as little bears, and his daughter told me that he has it framed in his office, which is really sweet. We also gave him this really good box of chocolates.
Nick Frost’s voice as SM-33 wasn’t added until later. Did the on-set performer still do some kind of pirate voice for all of you?
It was something. (Laughs.) But Nick Frost did such a good job. I love SM-33. [Episode two/three director] David Lowery did the voice for SM-33 sometimes, and he had this really deep voice. He did the voice for Kh’ymm, too. It was really bad, but I appreciated his effort. (Laughs.) There would sometimes be a recorded version of [Alia Shawkat’s] voice, but most of the time, I was talking to David Lowery.
You took a photo with Daisy Ridley at 2023’s Star Wars Celebration. Was there enough time for her to pass on a pearl of wisdom to you?
It was all very quick that day. I wanted to talk to everyone, but there were all these interviews and photos. Then we got to watch all the episodes, so I wish we could have had more time together. Before we were introduced as the Skeleton Crew cast at Star Wars Celebration, there was a green room full of all of the Star Wars actors and so many incredible people. That’s where I got to take photos with [Daisy] and everyone. I’m also a huge fan of The Good Place, and suddenly, I saw Manny Jacinto across the room. I did not know he was going to be in The Acolyte, so I almost started crying when I asked him to take a photo. Our show wasn’t out at all, and no one really knew who these kids were in the green room, so he was probably like, “Who is this random girl who’s asking to take a photo?” (Laughs.)
What else has stuck with you from this whirlwind?
At the premiere, we went backstage at Galaxy’s Edge. It was so crazy. I think of Disneyland as its own little world, and being backstage and suddenly stepping onto the red carpet in front of the Millennium Falcon was just really weird and surreal.
Lastly, what’s the most cryptically vague word you can offer for the final two episodes?
Death.
That is a very ominous tease!
(Laughs.) I know, but it’s pretty vague.
Now I’m the one who’s scared.
I’m sorry!
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Star Wars: Skeleton Crew airs Tuesdays on Disney+.
English (US) ·