In the new Star Wars series Young Jedi Adventures, the High Republic finally comes to the small screen with the animated adventures of a trio of Jedi Younglings living and training in an idyllic tropical temple. As Younglings Kai Brightstar (Jamaal Avery Jr.), Lys Solay (Juliet Donenfeld) and Nubs (Dee Bradley Baker) learn from wise Master Yoda (Piotr Michael) and kind but no-nonsense Master Zia (Nasim Pedrad), they learn important lessons, make friends with young hotshot pilot Nash Durango (Emma Berman) and cross paths with adolescent space pirate Taborr (Trey Murphy).

Donenfeld and Berman recently sat down with Collider’s Arezou Amin to talk about the making of the series, their favorite things about their characters, discovering the Star Wars movies, and which iconic prequel characters are their favorites.
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COLLIDER: So this is exciting, you’re both officially a part of Star Wars. Were you Star Wars fans before or was this like your introduction?

EMMA BERMAN: I had always heard about Star Wars. I mean, Star Wars is such a big company, it’s such a big thing. And my big brother, he’s eight years older than me, and he was always a fan. Every time I came home we’d always have the Star Wars movies replaying somewhere in my household. The music was always playing. And so, I had always known about it, but then once I got the part I binged every single movie, and now I’ve become a super fan.

JULIET DONENFELD: With me, it’s sort of similar. I’d always heard about it, like all my friends are huge fans, and I have two older siblings, they’re both 10 and 11 years older than me, and they always used to watch it with my parents. But I never actually watched the movies, but when I auditioned for it, I did a little bit of research and I watched some shorts on YouTube and saw some trailers and a few clips, but I didn’t watch the real movies.

And then this year in school, I’m in an elective called Film Criticism, and we watch movies, and after I booked this role, just coincidentally, we were watching all the Star Wars movies in class because we watch movies in film criticism. And I didn’t realize I was gonna like them so much, but now I’m actually a really big fan.

Image via Disney+

So who are your favorite characters now, other than your own?

BERMAN: Anakin. Anakin and Padmé and Hans Solo, I think, are my three favorites.

DONENFELD: Yeah, I was probably gonna say Anakin and all the little droids and because they’re so cute.

So what has the experience of being part of Star Wars been like? Have you gotten to do anything super cool?

DONENFELD: Not yet, really. But it’s just really fun going into the studio and being on Zoom with everybody, and it’s been really fun. I’m really am happy because, because of COVID, everything has been like kind of remote, but I’m really happy to get to go to the studio now, which is pretty fun.

BERMAN: I work from home, so I do my recording sessions almost every week from home, and that’s just always the highlight of my week. And I was lucky enough I went to D23 for the announcement of the show, and I also got to go to the Willow premiere and The Mandalorian Season 3 premiere. So I’ve just been having such a ball. This has been such a great experience.

So what part of making the show has been the highlight for you?

BERMAN: I think just getting the new scripts every week and being able to read about the new adventures that these lovable characters go on. It’s been so cool to be able to follow them on their adventures.

DONENFELD: Also, like Emma said, I love getting the scripts every week and reading all the new adventures our characters are up to, and I love picturing all the scenes in our head. And I was so excited for all of them to come out because I obviously can’t see a screen when I’m in the recording studio, so I have to picture it, but I was always just so excited to see the new adventures and how they’re going to animate it and put it all together.

Okay, so let’s talk Nash and Lys. What are your favorite things about your character?

BERMAN: I think one of my favorite parts about Nash is that she’s so confident, and because she knows that she’s the best pilot, she performs to the best of her ability every time because that’s just what she expects of herself. And I think that’s a super inspiring mindset that I love about her.

DONENFELD: I love how Lys is, she’s just so kind, and she’s always willing to care for other people and other creatures. And she’s really observant, so whenever everybody’s frantic, and we’re in a problem, she takes a few extra minutes, and she sits back and puts all the pieces together to solve the mystery. And I love how she loves creatures and is always willing to help them and people.

Image via LucasFilm

So the two of you have binged Star Wars, you kind of know all the cool stuff that people can do in Star Wars, so what’s something you hope that you get to see your character do one day on the show that maybe they haven’t done yet?

BERMAN: That’s a good one. I think it’s just always so cool to see everything that they do new. I think that I want to see more of Master Yoda because he appears in a couple of episodes and I just want to see him and Nash have more episodes together. I think that will be cool.

DONENFELD: Yeah, I feel like Master Yoda is so cool to see animated because he’s such a big hit of all the other Star Wars movies that it’s so cool to see all the animation, and then he’s such a staple that he’s thrown into them. So I want to see more of him, and I also love all the lightsaber work and how they can work against each other. I think that’s really cool.

Alright, a controversial question. Who is cuter, Nubs or RJ?

BERMAN: I have to go with RJ! I mean, he’s my co-pilot. I can’t do him dirty like that, I have to say RJ.

DONENFELD: I have to say Nubs, even though RJ is so cute, he’s such a good co-pilot. I have to say Nubs because when I was watching all the shorts, his voice is just so cute, and it fits his character so well, and he’s just so furry, and he is our Jedi, so I would have to say Nubs, but they’re both really cute.

My last question, if you could play any other character in Star Wars, no limitations, it doesn’t have to be something coming up, just anybody in Star Wars, who would it be?

DONENFELD: I don’t know, there’s quite a few, but if I had to pick one, I might wanna say Anakin just because he’s just, I don’t know, he’s just so cool.

BERMAN: I think that it would be so cool if they made a show with a young teenage Padmé, to voice that, or be in it like live-action. That would be insane.

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures is now streaming on Disney+.