History says that any space adventure set in a galaxy far, far away must have its obligatory comical robot to join the action. IN the case of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew”, that duty falls to Burley, the one-eyed mechanoid, SM-33. As he slinks through each episode and beats up any villains who dare cross the show’s heroes and their captain, Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), some eavesdropping viewers may have already figured out who’s responsible for the raspy voice that rings through the threads of this cruel bot . In fact, Disney and Lucasfilm turned to Nick Frost, the co-star of the Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy, to help bring this mean, boring companion to life.
Frost’s breakout role came in the cult series “Spaced” alongside Simon Pegg, before the two and the show’s director, Edgar Wright, changed horror comedies forever with 2003’s “Shaun of the Dead.” Wright, Pegg and Frost would later reunite for the other two entries in the Cornetto trilogy, “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End,” with Frost and Pegg also writing and starring in the 2011 sci-fi comedy “Paul.” Since then, Frost has appeared in the films “Attack the Block” and “Fighting with My Family,” in addition to playing a role in another cult favorite series with “Into the Badlands.” Horror fans may also know that Frost chilled the legs of anyone who has ever sat in a London taxi thanks to his role in the film ‘Black Cab’.
So far, critics are largely united in high praise for “Skeleton Crew.” For Frost, however, it was actually the fact that he wouldn’t appear in the series that drew him to the project in the first place.
Nick Frost loved the idea of ​​not seeing himself in Star Wars
In an interview with Fantha Tracks TV, Frost was asked why it took so many parsecs for him to finally join the “Star Wars” franchise after his friend Pegg played Unkar Plutt in 2015’s “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.” Frost compared his reluctance to entering another favorite world of his – the one involving Steve Coogan’s much-loved alter-ego, Alan Partridge.
“I was offered a role once in ‘Alan Partridge’ a long time ago and I turned it down because I liked ‘Alan Partridge’ too much to just be in it,” he explained. Thankfully, “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” offered a solution for Frost. “But this was a way for me to kind of have my cake and eat it in terms of, ‘Yeah, you can be in Star Wars,’ but I don’t have to look at myself. I get to look at a beautiful SM-33, titanium casing,” Frost added.
There was also an added bonus that no other “Star Wars” character could compete with that helped convince Frost to accept the role. “Well they showed me some concept art and he had a rat in his eye and I love the idea that it was like a naughty pirate robot that was potentially like a ‘Ratatouille’ style and he had a rat in his brain and I I didn’t think I ever seen that before in the universe, so I was like yeah, this is amazing,” the actor says.
New episodes of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” premiere on Tuesdays at 6pm PST on Disney+.
