Entertainment News

‘Willow’ cast talks importance of representation in the new drama series

Disney Willow 113022
Courtesy of Disney+

In the new fantasy drama series Willow, many were thrilled to discover that in episode one, there’s LGBTQ representation among the main characters Jade and Princess Kit, played by Erin Kellyman and Ruby Cruz, respectively. 

Fans weren’t the only one’s excited, though. In fact, Cruz told ABC Audio that the representation was a big reason she joined the project. 

“I think it’s extremely important to represent sort of our our worlds and accurately in the Willow world,” she said. “And I’m just really privileged to be a part of that and to be able to develop such an important, awesome, layered, complicated relationship between two young women. That is the best opportunity ever.”

Kellyman felt similarly, explaining that  having this kind of representation would have helped her growing up. 

“You know, a show that is inclusive for a younger generation, I think it’s really important to be able to have queer representation involved in that because people of all ages are constantly figure out figuring out their sexuality and sometimes it can be kind of lonely or yeah, you can feel quite separate from people,” she shared. “So, if you have this representation in TV and film, it can feel way more normalized and less lonely. I know if I had that grown up, I think I would have felt a lot less scared.” 

Catch the first two episodes of Willow now on Disney+, with following episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.