Jude Law "Underestimated" This Part of Filming 'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew'

The Big Picture

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will feature puppetry, stop-motion, and modern technology, bringing a unique blend of visuals to the Star Wars universe.
Jude Law plays a mysterious character, offering insight into working with puppets and animatronics while filming the Disney+ series.
The show, created by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, follows a group of kids navigating a dangerous galaxy, echoing classic Amblin adventure films.

Details are scarce on the upcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. We know a bit about the premise of the series and more about the creative team behind the project, but we’ve had to rely on toy leaks for glimpses at the show’s characters. In a recent interview with Forbes, star Jude Law discussed his excitement about working on the series and teased a bit of what Star Wars fans can expect to see.

The show will follow a group of children as they travel through a dangerous galaxy, and Law will portray a mysterious character about whom not much is known, and the actor has described the character as “contradictory.” While discussing his new film Firebrand, Law couldn’t give details on the story of Skeleton Crew, but he offered insight into his experience working on the project, saying:

“It has a close link to a really powerful experience in my childhood…I remember seeing the first [
Star Wars
] film and waiting for the second. It dominated and transported my childhood from this very suburban upbringing in Southeast London to a galaxy far, far away. I think I spent the better part of those years running around saying, ‘Pew, pew, pew’ [mimicking a blaster] to all of my friends.”

‘Skeleton Crew’ Will Involve a Lot of Puppetry

Image via Disney/Getty Images

We learned last month that Skeleton Crew will feature many classic film techniques like stop-motion and matte paintings, and now Law has revealed that the biggest surprise of making the Star Wars show was working with puppets. While discussing making the show, the actor added:

“Stepping into it was really fun. I’ll tell you the most interesting surprise – which I completely underestimated as an actor – was the skill of learning to perform with puppets, puppeteers and animatronics. A lot of them are really there, so it’s not CGI. So, learning to do a scene with someone with their head here [motioning] – the performances of these puppeteers is just masterful.”

Skeleton Crew will, of course, also involve modern movie-making technology like CGI, motion-capture, and shooting on the volume. Described by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford as a “galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films,” the series will certainly involve many fantastical locations, characters, and creatures, and it will be exciting for viewers to see all of these filming techniques coming together to create them.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is expected to release on Disney+ later this year. Stay tuned at Collider for more updates on the series and all things Star Wars.