This Skywalker is a prairie-dweller

Her name reflects a galaxy far away, but her passion involves the frontier long ago.
Meet Skywalker Hughes (shown here, right) — no relation to Luke or to Howard or to this writer. She’s 14 and plays the older sister in the “Little House on the Prairie” reboot, arriving Thursday (July 9) on Netflix.
A separate story here has an overview of the series. But first, that name:
Her grandfather, she told the Television Critics Association, had the surname Walker and wanted to have a son named Jay. “It’s apparently really funny to name your son after jaywalking.”
Instead, he had daughters and asked one of them to name her daughter Skywalker. “My mom was a little like, ‘OK, We’ll see what happens.’ But I really do love my name …. I am a very, very big ‘Star Wars’ fan.”
The rest of her life, however, has been far more grounded.
Skywalker, 14, was born in Toronto, but raised on a farm. There was “little or no internet” she said, so she “grew up heavily on books — specifically Laura Ingalls (Wilder). They were a huge part of my childhood.”
Then came two roles in rural-themed dramas. First was the Canadian “Joe Pickett,” as a game warden’s daughter. Now comes “Little House,” based on Wilder’s novels.
Except at first, Sundance didn’t quite grasp what she was auditioning for.
She read the character description and dialog and “I was like, ‘This is cute. I really like it.’ “Then she noticed the title of the show she was trying for.
“Keep in mind, ‘Little House on the Prairie’ is like a huge part of my life … I was like freaking out.'”
She’s the only actor from Canada in the main family, but “Little House” (which is filmed there) fills many of the supporting roles with Canadians.
And she has other things in common with her castmates:
— Most are relatively unknown. Luke Bracey (who plays the dad) landed the Keanu Reeves role in the “Point Break” remake, but the film bombed. Crosby Fitzgerald (the mom) was one of the gossipy society ladies in “Palm Royale.” Alice Halsey, 11, (Laura) was the main character’s daughter in “Lessons in Chemistry” and then Kristen and Brady’s daughter in “Days of Our Lives.”
— None are very familiar with the original “Little House” series. “My step-mom is a huge fan,” Fitzgerald said helpfully.
— And most are very familiar with the “Little House” books.
“I grew up reading the books,” Fitzgerald said. “My mom is a huge fan; she collected a few boxed sets.”
Alice dug into the books and more. Laura, she said, is “a really complex character to play. It took a lot to figure out who she is, the many sides to her. I read the books, I read the scripts a ton, I listen to podcasts.” She also read “Prairie Fires,” the Pulitzer-winning biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
The exception is Bracey, 37, who didn’t move to the U.S. from Australia until 2012. “I didn’t have a connection to the books or the show,” he said. “Maybe I’d heard the title,”
But he soon learned the required skills, including steering a horse-drawn carriage or covered wagon. “I was a bit intimidated” at first, he said. “You’ve got two 500-kilogram motorbikes with brains of their own.”
He soon mastered it, he joked. “I’ll reverse parallel park, if you want.”
The kids have also settled into the notion of frontier life. But if they had to go back in time, they said, they would miss some things.
“I’d miss being able to talk to my friends,” said Skywalker. After her isolated early years, she now uses modern tech. “I have friends in a billion different places. Like, some of my best friends are in New Zealand.”
And Alice? She would miss the In-N-Out Burger spot and one thing more: “I would miss air-conditioning. A lot. On the prairie, it can get pretty hot.”
And that’s filming on the Canadian prairie. Now imagine the same thing in Kansas or Missouri, while wearing the same layers of clothes for days. Laura Ingalls did it, and lived to tell about it.