Skywalker Hughes on Playing Mary Ingalls in Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie

[00:00:08] Skywalker, thank you for joining me today at Pop Culture Unplugged. Thank you for having me, I'm so excited. Exciting times, you know, congratulations Little House on the Prairie. How's been your life for last, what about a week, week and a half now? It's been so exciting. All of my friends have been watching the show and it's just been so cool that everyone gets to see what me and everyone else has been working so hard on and now it's not just our baby anymore and now the whole world gets to see. Right. I mean this is such an iconic story, you know, it's been loved by generations. Like for you, what was your favorite?

[00:00:38] What was your reaction when you found out you've been cast on this show but also as Mary? I was so excited. I grew up with the books and they were such a huge part of my life. So getting to, you know, not only be in Little House on the Prairie but be in a very book accurate and book-based version of the show was so exciting. What about the audition process? What was that like? You know, was this originally the role you were going in for? Yes. So originally I auditioned for Mary. I was so excited.

[00:01:08] And I mean, we didn't audition to see if we could sing or anything. So when we got on the show, it was so exciting that both me and Alice love to sing, especially Taylor Swift, you know, always dancing along and we would sing so much together. And then we found out that we got to sing on the show. Both of us were so excited. We got through singing lessons together and it was like the greatest thing ever. But I was so excited. Do you remember the description for Mary?

[00:01:32] I think it was something along the lines of Mary, Laura Ingalls, older sister, her polar opposite. They love each other to death but also butt heads a lot. You know, yeah, it was a good description of who she was that also gave me the opportunity to like, you know, add more facets and play around a little bit. So when you booked the role, did you go back to try to read any of the books again or even just go back and watch like the old show? Just a couple episodes?

[00:02:01] I think I watched maybe a little bit of the first episode of the old show. Yeah. But mostly took everything from the books and all of my source material was the books. For you, what was like the one special thing that you did to prepare to play this character? That's an interesting question. I mean, obviously I read the books a lot, you know, with the pilot director, we had some like rehearsals and stuff and me and Alice and Crosby and Luke and everyone.

[00:02:29] We hung out a bunch just beforehand, even though we were so close from the get go. We hung out a ton and we just kind of built that Ingalls family bond that is so central and so important in the show. So do you think like Mary's often seen as the most responsible sister?

[00:02:49] Yes, I definitely think she prides herself in being good and does her best to be responsible for her younger sister because she loves her younger sister more than literally anyone in the whole world. And it's really important to her that her little sister is safe. Now, Laura does sway her a couple of times to do some questionable things, but she is majorly pretty responsible.

[00:03:13] So throughout this, you know, the first season, you know, the biggest theme is the relationship between Mary and Laura, you know, but, you know, they argue, they tease each other, like you said. But do you think they're different or do you think they're a little bit similar? Kind of similar, but in different ways. And I think that's what makes them buttheads. I think they both have relatively like very strong feelings and like they know kind of how they feel about different things. And that's what kind of makes them buttheads.

[00:03:41] But on the other hand, that also is what makes them so close. And so I think their relationships, like their relationship together is extremely important because it's like what they base the rest of their lives off of. So how did you and Alice built that like chemistry for you to be on when you were when you were on set? Me and Alice are basically sisters in real life. We spend so much time together. Right from like the day I met her, I ran over and hugged her and I was like, this is my little sister now.

[00:04:10] And like we got we were so close the first five minutes of school when we met because we had to do some school during prep. And that's how we met. And but we literally knew nothing about each other, but we were like literally best friends. So we did a bunch of best friend quizzes like where would you rather go? What's your favorite animal? What's your color? All that stuff. And we were so close. And then coming back for season two, like last season, we were best friends. But this season, it's like closer than that. Like we're sisters now. And like we already know so much about each other.

[00:04:39] So so throughout the season, Mary finds herself trying to keep peace also, you know, for you, like how did what was her particular scene where you felt Mary really started finding her own voice also? I think that for a lot of the season, Mary was a little bit trying to like figure out what's happening because, you know, she was pretty secure in her life back in the big world. Now she's moving and now she has to figure out this whole new town with all these people.

[00:05:04] So I think she might be struggling a little bit to find her voice and everything. But I think in episode six, where Laura and Mary, Mary makes up with Laura and baby Carrie is about to be born and Laura's in the couch like you hate me. And Mary's like, no, I don't. I think that's a really, really amazing scene. And it was and the bond really strengthens between the sisters then. And I think that's really important. Do you do you enjoy exploring like the different layers of Mary, you know, like throughout the season?

[00:05:34] You know, be serious. She's not like the perfect daughter. She's got she's frustrated disagreements. Yeah. I mean, I always love giving my characters like so many layers. And even when my lines are so short, I'm always like, OK, exactly what is my inner monologue and what am I trying to get across with this? Like my line could be two words long.

[00:05:54] And in my head, I got like way more than like two words of backstory behind each line, because people like in the real world are so deep and there's so many different layers and different facets. And they have so many different feelings. I think it's really, really important to bring that into characters. Do you think Mary falls in love this season with that little boy? I think I wouldn't call it love.

[00:06:19] I think they both really needed someone like an anchor and a rock to kind of be there for them. And I think maybe puppy love. But I think we're both so young. I don't think either of them really knows what romantic love is like. Mary and her sister are like soulmates. They are so close. And I would call that love and with her family. But I don't think she's hit romantic love yet. I think she's still a little innocent.

[00:06:48] So what do you think Mary learns from that? I think she learns it's really, really important for her to have an emotional connection with people. You know, not only like because with romantic, it's a very beginning. It's a very shallow relationship. It's like you're cool. I want friends. We can be friends. But with Caleb, it's so like emotionally deep. And it's like, you know, they're really there for each other. And I think she finds that that's really, really important to her. The finale is heartbreaking though, right?

[00:07:17] When you're filming those scenes. How was that for you as an actor? I mean, like it was so sad. I mean, the end when we were all saying goodbye. And like saying goodbye was so hard because that was like, we still, we filmed episode six after we filmed episode seven and eight. But everyone else but like the eight or ten castmates that were in episode six, they were all leaving. And it was so sad.

[00:07:44] Like me and Alice, we had to say goodbye to set in our house. And it was so sad. We were like laughing and sobbing in the back of a golf cart on the way back from our last day. It was so sad because everyone on set is so kind and amazing. And even the crew and everyone and saying goodbye to that environment was so hard because we didn't know if we were coming back yet. The original series had a huge fan base. You know, some of them grew up with the series. You know, they were trying to tune into Watch Now.

[00:08:14] Like any pressure for you trying to readapt as like this series bringing it to life again? I think there's always pressure when it comes to like, especially when you're taking a book series and turning it into a show in a way to do justice to the books and how beautiful and amazing they are. But also make it something new, you know? Yeah. And I think, so there's obviously pressure, but I think it's better to just not think about it and just be like, okay, this is Mary. This is how we're going to do it. And then hope people love it.

[00:08:41] So how would you describe her overall journey so far? I think in the beginning of the season, she's really sad that she had to leave her family and her friends. And there's so many people she loved that she had to say goodbye to. And she doesn't know if she's ever going to see them ever again. And Mary loves people so much and cares so deeply about people that it's so hard for her.

[00:09:05] And it's also hard for her because she feels like her little sister doesn't understand the magnitude of her situation and how much it hurts to leave all these people behind. But I think by the end of the season, she's kind of created this new bubble of people that she loves so much. And she has new friends and Miss Henderson, who is such a big role model to her, you know, who shows up like when she wins the embroidery contest and all of that.

[00:09:33] I think that is really, really important. Would you change anything about Mary if you could? I don't think so. I really, really like Mary. I think maybe she could be a little more confident and true to herself and, you know, kind of put herself out there. But I think that will come with getting older. I know you're in the process of filming the new season right now, but what could you tease about Mary? Obviously, no spoilers. Yeah. What could you tease? I can't say anything.

[00:10:01] I would because, trust me, when I love a show, I'm like, guys, please, just tell me what's going to happen. I cannot wait until the birthday comes out. But, you know, I don't really want to get sued. So I would love to tell you everything, but I can't. So looking back now, what the audience has seen so far, is there a particular Mary scene that you're most proud of that you want the viewers to remember? That's a really hard question.

[00:10:28] I mean, I think some of the scenes with Alice, both of us, like, we love to play off of each other. And I think it's so fun to do scenes with her because she's such an amazing actress and takes her job so seriously while also having so much fun. And, you know, because we're so close, we know so much about each other and we, like, we really get each other. And I think some of those scenes are so fun. And, I mean, we just have a blast filming them. Like, I'm not joking. A blast.

[00:10:59] I got a random question for you. If you had to live in the 1870s, what's one thing that you think you could handle very well? One thing that after day one, you're like, nope, I'm done. Okay. So I grew up on a farm in quite literally, absolutely the middle of nowhere. So, you know, some of the stuff isn't that super surprising because, like, you know, also I read the books growing up and I would love to, I would have loved to live in 1860s, 70s.

[00:11:28] It would have been so fun. I think one thing being older now that I would really, really miss is I have so many friends who live far away from me. And I think I really kind of connected to me on that level where the idea of leaving home and not being able to talk to your friends. Like, some of my friends live in New Zealand and, like, all throughout the States and Canada. So it would be really, really hard for me to, like, not be able to talk to my friends. I think that would be really hard. But, like, I think relatively everything else would be fun.

[00:11:58] Like, the fashion. Yeah. Yes. That would be awesome. All the horses. All that stuff would be so fun. Any other projects you're allowed to tell us about that you got coming up or working on? This movie that's coming out. Okay. That was so fun. I did that one just because I wanted to. Because it's like, you know, why don't we do it? Because it's so fun. Because I just, I love acting. Like, even if I wasn't getting paid, I probably, I would still do it. Because I love it so much.

[00:12:26] Like, actually, it's like, I feel so blessed and so lucky. Because I know so many people genuinely don't like their job when I love it so much. It's like, I love it so much. I genuinely love going to work every day. Like, I'm, yay! And also, I forgot about this. I have another movie coming out called Eye Object. And it's honestly such a fun movie. And it was so much fun filming because we got to film that in New Zealand. Okay. And I love New Zealand. Yeah. So when are we expecting those movies to drop?

[00:12:56] Okay. The Christmas movie is Christmas in July, but I don't know what day. And then I'm not completely sure when the American release of Eye Object comes out. But there's a New Zealand release coming out soon. But I'm kind of a little clueless. I don't know. That's all right. I'm sure you'll post on it. You'll post that on Instagram. Yes, I will. It's amazing. Skywalk, I want to thank you for giving me from us today. Good luck with the rest of the filming.

[00:13:25] And we got to get you back on and continue the story. Yes. It'll be so fun. Yeah. Thank you.