Lost In Space’s Maxwell Jenkins on what it’s like to play the iconic Will Robinson
Maxwell Jenkins, who plays the young Will Robinson on Netflix’s Lost In Space, shares how it feels to play an iconic sci-fi role, what it’s like to shoot scenes with a robot, and more!
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The youngest Robinson in Netflix’s Lost In Space, 12-year old Maxwell Jenkins knows that he has “big shoes to fill” when it comes to portraying Will. The actor joined the full cast at WonderCon Anaheim last month to talk about what it was like to film the updated series that includes having a reimagined alien robot as a best friend.
Jenkins was excited to share that he was able to meet the original Will Robinson from Lost In Space in the 1960s. “I got to meet Bill Mumy, and I’m proud to call him a friend,” Jenkins said. “We bonded over Pete Seeger and comic books.” Many sci-fi fans also remember the famous line, “Danger, Will Robinson,” and while Jenkins said that he did know of the line before filming, he admitted that he only knew it because of a spoof episode on Family Guy.
So what was it like to be launched onto another planet to film Lost In Space? “It was an honor,” he said. “I mean, getting to work with such amazing cast and crew and getting to kind of relive what all these amazing cast members in the 60s got to live was just amazing.”
While we were talking with Jenkins, the executive producers reminded him that when they were kids, they would often watch the show and pretend that they were Will, but Jenkins was excited to imagine himself as a different character. “After a long day of filming, I would go home and pretend to be the robot,” he said. “I would pretend to be the robot and when my sister would come up to visit, we would pretend to be two robots battling.”
We asked Jenkins what it was like to film scenes with an alien robot as a best friend, and he equated it to his friendship with his dogs. “I have two rescue pit bulls back at home, and they’re incredibly sweet and kind and loyal, but they’re also fierce protectors, so it was a lot like getting to pretend with my best friend.”
Check out Maxwell Jenkins and the cast of Lost In Space in all-new featurette below:
Next: Talking Lost In Space with Jon Jashni and Kevin Burns
Lost In Space premieres on Netflix on April 13! Grab a pack of Oreos and get ready to binge watch all 10 episodes this weekend.