From Lucasfilm and Imagine Entertainment comes Willow, an all-new sequel series based on George Lucas' 1988 fantasy-adventure movie of the same name.
It's set to premiere on November 30, exclusively on Disney+, and features the return of the iconic Nelwyn sorcerer played by Warwick Davis, years after he rescued the infant empress Elora Danan. Leading a group of misfit heroes on a harrowing rescue mission through a world beyond imagination, what follows is an action-packed fantastical adventure.
Earlier this month, we sat down to speak with Willow's cast, including stars Dempsey Bryk and Ruby Cruz. They play Airk and Kit, the children of Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), and both characters embark on drastically different journeys in the show.
During our conversation, they talk us through the unique sibling dynamic their characters share, Airk and Kit's respective story arcs across the course of season 1, and the fun they had exploring Wales. Ruby also sheds some light on the rivalry that develops between her and Ellie Bamber's Dove as they set off on this epic road trip.
Check out our full conversation with the Willow stars in the player below.
Kit and Airk have a really fun sibling dynamic that we see early on in the show; what did you both enjoy most about delving into that before your characters go their separate ways?
Dempsey: I think it was a pleasure. It was just so fun to be able to try to annoy each other and make fun of each other. We were immediately very comfortable with each other and it actually felt like we were twins without having to do any work.
Ruby: [Laughs] Yeah, it made our jobs real easy.
Dempsey: Real easy, and it made everyone else’s jobs real hard because we’d mess around.
Ruby: We were menaces, but it was fun. I think that relationship was important in establishing that closeness and how important we were to each other before [Dempsey] is ripped from my grasp [Laughs].
In contrast, Ruby, Kit and Dove develop a really interesting rivalry as the series develops; what was it like for you and Ellie to work on that tension in the midst of this epic road trip your characters are on?
Ruby: It was really fun. Ellie Bamber is a brilliant human being and it was fun to work with her and always a pleasure. I think that relationship is really cool and really interesting, and I haven’t talked about it much in press, my gosh, but yeah, I think they’re both very headstrong, opinionated characters, and I think when two people who sort of mirror each other in that way are face to face and recognise that in each other, it can be threatening. I think Kit is very threatened by Dove.
Airk has a really interesting arc in the show, Dempsey, but it does mean you’re not part of the road trip your co-stars go on - were you disappointed to miss out or was it fun for you to explore this world’s mythology in a different way?
Dempsey: It was definitely fun. It was also kind of a challenge socially because everyone is always somewhere trying to find you, and you’re shooting something completely different in a different place! You know what, that was the challenge, but the fun bit was I saw they were going through hell. They were putting themselves through the wringer to create this thing and to do justice to everything we wanted to do justice to. I’m just, like, sitting around, sipping coffees, texting them saying, ‘Oh, I’m sleeping into 11, and they’re like, ‘We hate you.’
Ruby: Yeah.
Willow is an epic road trip story in a lot of ways, but what are some of your favourite memories from the time you spent working on the show?
Ruby: Wales is a beautiful, beautiful country. It genuinely looks like a storybook. Even just walking around Cardiff or Penarth. The hills in Penarth…the clouds there. The greenery. We filmed all along the South coast which was cool too. Also the Brecon Beacons, so we saw a lot of rural Wales which was stunning. I have so many pictures on my phone.
Dempsey: Yeah, it was a dream. Even being in Cardiff, it was a dream come true just to see a different type of architecture from what you usually see. I’ve always dreamed about the UK, ever since I was a kid. I couldn’t tell you why, but I did.
Ruby: Wait, your dreams were set in the UK?
Dempsey: It was in my math class daydreams. I think I fell in love with a Coffee Shop in Cardiff called Quantum Coffee. I went there every day. I loved it. That was probably my Welsh highlight. I tried to get them all to come. No one else went. I went to this coffee shop.
Ruby: I came once!
Dempsey: You did, but I walked across the Barrage just to deliver people coffee because I was so passionate. You can tell I had time on my hands [Laughs].
Willow is set to premiere on Disney+ on November 30.