Maxwell Jenkins on being part of an elite club and joining the MCU

Season three feels like there’s more at stake for Will…

Something that me and the writers and producers, specifically Zack Estrin and the two creators Burk [Sharpless] and Matt [Sazama], talked about and made sure from the beginning of season one was ageing Will Robinson as I grew up in real life. In season three, Will makes some mistakes. He catches himself lying, thinking that he’s doing the right thing. When we were going into it, we really wanted to make sure that it was as authentic as possible and that Will Robinson wasn’t still trying to be a little kid, that he was as much of a teenager as any normal teenager out there. It’s just that the stakes are much higher.

What new sci-fi has Lost In Space opened your eyes to?

I love Star Trek: Discovery. I actually got the chance to meet Doug Jones at the Saturn Awards. I’ve been nominated against him twice. And he’s beaten me both times, justifiably! He’s such a nice guy. Also, of course, Dune came out. In the second season there’s a scene at the end where I face off against the robots and the writers kept saying, “Oh, this is like your Muad’Dib moment, like you’re in Dune”. Muad’Dib has actually kind of been an influence for Will Robinson, subtly, over the course of this season, so I’d say that Dune is also something that I’ve been exposed to for sure.

What’s it like seeing yourself as an action figure?

It was kind of a big thing. Me and Bill Mumy, the original Will Robinson, were talking and he was saying, “Man, you can’t be the only Will Robinson without an action figure, that can’t happen”. So it’s kind of surreal to be honest. I’m a big sci-fi fan myself and with being a sci-fi fan comes action figure collecting. When I was growing up, my most visited shop in my neighbourhood was a place called Quake, which had a bunch of old action figures. So I would have Star Wars and Star Trek. Having my own action figure next to those guys, it feels kind of surreal, like a dream come true.