Firebrand star Jude Law says his work on the upcoming series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew series fulfills a lifelong fantasy.
In a Zoom conversation Tuesday with Law and Alicia Vikander—who star as Henry VIII and his last wife, Queen Katherine Parr, in the new historical drama—Law said he couldn’t go into details about the upcoming Star Wars series. Law was, however, happy to share the surreal feelings he felt making it.
“It has a close link to a really powerful experience in my childhood,” Law told me of his work on the series, which is expected to premiere in late 2024.
“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,” Law added. “I think I spent the better part of those years running around saying, ‘Pew, pew, pew’ [mimicking a blaster] to all of my friends.”
The first official logline for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew reads, “Four kids make a mysterious discovery on their home planet that leads them to get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy.”
Law Says He Worked With Puppets And Puppeteers On ‘Skeleton Crew’
Of course, Jude Law is no stranger to fantasy films, having starred as the young version of Professor Albus Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts movies in the Harry Potter saga, as well as playing Yon-Ragg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe chapter Captain Marvel.
Star Wars, however, catapulted Law’s inner child to a whole new level.
“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,” Law explained to me. “A lot of them are really there so it’s not CGI. So, learning to do a scene with someone with their head [motioning] here—the performances of these puppeteers is just masterful.”
Having characters that normally come to life via CGI, Law said, was something that he needed to get used to.
“The first day it happened I was like, ‘Okay, how do I do this? What eyeballs do I look at?’ That was a challenge but a good one—fun,” Law enthused.
For Alicia Vikander, seeing her Firebrand co-star move on to a Star Wars project was the latest in a string of her co-stars who left her behind to enjoy the adventures that kicked off with creator George Lucas’ first film in 1977.
Previously, Vikander saw her Ex Machina co-stars Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson move on to star as Poe Dameron and General Hux, respectfully, in the Star Wars sequel trilogy opposite Daisy Ridley’s Rey.
Vikander is holding out hope for that call to come, though.
“I think the Star Wars universe is going to continue to grow,” Vikander said, laughing. “I grew up with my dad—who is a big sci-fi fan—so I had a similar upbringing [to Jude]. But I just [rolled my hair into] big buns that I was running around with at school.”
In Firebrand, Vikander stars as Queen Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII (Law). In the film, Katherine navigates danger and fights for survival as the infamous king in Tudor England becomes increasingly unhinged as his body rots with infection because of deadly leg ulcers.
Henry VIII was an especially vicious historical figure in the history of the British Monarchy since he cast out two wives and had two others beheaded—and another died in childbirth.
Look for more coverage from the Firebrand interview with Vikander and Law later this week.
Directed by Karim Aïnouz, Firebrand opens in limited release on Friday.
