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While Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Encanto), star of Disney+'s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, is a teenager, he prepares for his roles like a seasoned actor.
During the filming of Skeleton Crew, Cabot-Conyers revealed he created a playlist based on his character's mood each episode.
“They were pretty similar, but point A to point B — point A being the first song, and point B being the last — they're drastically different,” he explained. “But it all comes together, and it's his same consecutive concept of feeling, but it slightly changes each episode.”
Weezer was one of the artists he specifically mentioned on the playlist. “Follow You Down” by the Gin Blossoms was also on it. Furthermore, it was his idea to do this for his character. For most of his roles, Cabot-Conyers employs similar techniques. He also mentioned journaling as the character as another one of his “initial” methods when in the audition processes for roles.
Ahead of filming Skeleton Crew, Cabot-Conyers spent time with his young co-stars. They watched E.T. and The Goonies and went min-golfing together. It sounds like he was closest to Ryan Kiera Armstrong, as they would get frozen yogurt after a long day of filming.
“Ryan and I got frozen yogurt every day after filming because sometimes we wrapped really late,” Cabot-Conyers said. “So we needed a little sugar to get us back in the mood for the next day.”
Being excited to join the Star Wars universe
The young actor was beaming with excitement upon joining our Zoom call. It was especially admirable given he was fresh off a trip from London, England, to promote Skeleton Crew. Perhaps part of the euphoria stemmed from the Thanksgiving holiday coming up a few days after our chat.
The excitement started well before filming the new Star Wars Disney+ series. He has been a fan for years, including owning action figures like his character in Skeleton Crew. He also owned several lightsabers, such as Darth Maul's iconic two-sided saber. Even his dad was a collector of Star Wars toys.
Seeing himself as a Star Wars action figure? Completely different story. Ravi Cabot-Conyers was overwhelmed the first time he saw himself in LEGO form.
“It was really weird. My favorite part of LEGO has been the mini-figures,” he explained. “Now that I am one, it doesn't feel real.”
Even before filming Skeleton Crew, Cabot-Conyers learned about landing the role while talking to creator Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home). Watts subtly slid it in, unbeknownst to Cabot-Conyers.
“I was pretty far into the casting process, but I hadn't gotten the job yet, but Jon really wanted to talk to me, and I was very excited,” Cabot-Conyers recalled.
Their conversation included Star Wars and squirrel talk, but it ended with Watts saying, “I look forward to working with you.” The nod to him getting the job went over his head util his mom pointed out he got the job. A few days later, he got the official call from his managers. The rest is history.
Working with Skeleton Crew's Jon Watts
Skeleton Crew features some A-list directors, from experienced Star Wars filmmakers Bryce Dallas Howard to Oscar nominees/winners like Lee Isaac Chung and the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). Even David Lowery directed an episode.
But Ravi Cabot-Conyers clearly had a good rapport with JonWatts. He praised his intentionality, direction, and sense of humor as a director. Watts even infused bits of his childhood into Skeleton Crew (Cabot-Conyers specifically name-dropped The Goonies and Amblin Entertainment as inspirations).
Immersive Star Wars sets
Something Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) taught me was that immersive sets help actors get immersed in the production. Ravi Cabot-Conyers felt similar about Skeleton Crew when talking about the Star Wars set.
It does help, especially since most of the sets were practical. Skeleton Crew used the same StageCraft mechanism that other Star Wars projects like The Mandalorian also use.
“Most of the sets, the aliens, everything was practical, and it was all right in front of you,” he said. “So, it really was an actor's dream.”
While using your imagination is helpful as an actor, Cabot-Conyers still found the immersive sets made it “easier to have everything in front of you” when working.
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For those who won't ever act in a Star Wars project, one option is to go to Galaxy's Edge in Disney World. While Cabot-Conyers didn't go before filming Skeleton Crew, he and his co-stars went as a wrap gift. One pitch Cabot-Conyers has for Disney World is a Skeleton Crew ride.
“That would be so cool, a roller coaster [that] takes you through all the planets,” he said. “That would be awesome with the characters guiding you.”
But after being as close to being in Star Wars as humanly possible, were Disney World's offerings a letdown? No. For Cabot-Conyers, it was more about the experience. He got to go with his co-stars and celebrate their work together.
“Honestly, no, because we were with the people we love, and we've all been working together for so long,” he explained. “We went through this unique experience.”
Plus, he got to see the Encanto dolls (he previously voiced Antonio Madrigal in the animated movie). That was an added bonus to an already amazing trip.
Ravi Carbot-Conyers' Encanto 2 hopes
Before Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Ravi Cabot-Conyers was best known for his role in Encanto. While a sequel has not been announced — the first movie made $261 million worldwide — Cabot-Conyers has some ideas for a sequel.
“It would be so cool if [Antonio] could create a zoo for animals or an animal sanctuary — something along those lines,” he revealed. “That'd be fun. I would love to see a sequel.”
He looks back on his experience filming Encanto positively. Cabot-Conyers remembers the experience fondly, even if it was different from Skeleton Crew.
“I loved working on the first movie. It was so much fun, and I loved all the characters, and there are so many nice and talented people,” Cabot-Conyers reminisced. “It was really different from Skeleton Crew, the process, [but] even though it was different, they were both equally fun for different reasons.”
Future Star Wars dreams
Going forward, it's unknown if Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will get another season or if Ravi Cabot-Conyers' character will come back in another project. But the young actor still has some bucket list items he wants to accomplish.
“I've always wanted to see myself in Tatooine,” he told me. “I remember it was the first day that we got a tour around the set, and we saw the Volume (the StageCraft technology) for the first time. It was Robert Timothy Smith and Jon [Watts'] birthday, so I made a little cartoon and gave it to them as a birthday gift. I made them on Tatooine.”
Another thing he wants is to fly an X-Wing in a Star Wars project. He's even open to playing a different character if it means he gets to fly an X-Wing. But between flying an X-Wing or wielding a lightsaber, the answer is clear: “Oh, definitely a lightsaber,” he said.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is streaming on Disney+.
