'Stranger Things' icon Gaten Matarazzo says 'Star Wars' sparked his love of movies

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Stranger Things icon Gaten Matarazzo has joined another mammoth franchise with his voice role in LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy.

The four-part animated series premieres Friday on Disney+ It also features the voice talents of Tony Revolori, Bobby Moynihan, Marsai Martin, Michael Cusack, Ahmed Best, Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams.

Like millions of other young adults, Matarazzo spent time playing with LEGO sets and watching LEGO and Star Wars films and TV shows when he was growing up.

"This was very integral to why I love movies as much as I do," the 22-year-old actor told UPI in a recent phone interview. "I was very, very much into the bed sheets, pajamas, clothes, backpacks, lunch boxes, all that jazz."

The actor -- who has also starred in the Broadway productions of Les Miserables, Dear Evan Hansen and Sweeney Todd -- said using only his voice in Rebuild the Galaxy was an important acting exercise because it challenged him to use his imagination more, as opposed to leaning on sets, props or costumes.

"You can kind of do basically whatever you want and it's kind of encouraged," he said, referring to how there was no fear of messing up a camera shot or something not looking right. "You're kind of hyper-focused on your voice. I tend to find it quite freeing."

Matarazzo described his character in the cartoon as someone he found easy to relate to.

"Sig is really cool. Sig is this kid who is really content in the place that he is. He's a really happy-go-lucky person who really likes to get along with people," the actor said.

Sig also is a kid who grows up idolizing heroes like Luke Skywalker and Rey and Annakin, and then unwittingly rewrites Star Wars history when he finds a magical relic.

"He's a little bit brash and kind of unaware socially about boundaries and the way he may come across on first impressions," Matarazzo said.

"He is, I guess, certainly like me, an ADD-riddled boy who just really likes to connect with people around him and is really passionate about the things that he loves and is super, hyper-fixated, weirdly enough, on Star Wars, even though we're in the Star Wars universe.

"He is literally a Star Wars nerd in the world of Star Wars, which is really, really fun."

Matarazzo said he hopes viewers will see themselves in Sig, an everyman who ends up having an extraordinary life.

"He's whisked away on this adventure that was never really planned, that he never really intended to be on or necessarily wanted to be on," Matarazzo said.

"You can wrap yourself up in the idea of 'This could be anybody. It could be you. It could be your neighbor. It could be your brother or sister, or anybody really,'" he added. "It's really fun to watch and kind of go down this really silly goofy journey."

Although Mattarazzo recorded his lines of dialogue alone, he said he has had the honor of meeting Hamill and Williams on other occasions.

"I tried to be as cool as I could," he said, admitting he may have fanboyed over them a bit.

"I feel so horrible because they get it all the time, starring in the most successful franchise you ever grace TV and film."

Mattarazzo said the attention he gets for the wildly popular sci-fi drama, Stranger Things, is "nowhere near" the fanfare Hamill and Williams get when they encounter fans.

"I don't think anything compares to that," he said.

Mattarazzo said he feels like he has "imposter syndrome" when fans tell him how much Stranger Things and his character, Dustim, mean to them.

"It is so incredible to hear, but it never really does resonate because I always feel as though when I'm in that situation like, 'No way I could possibly be a part of something that's so special to so many people,'" he said.

"It's overwhelmingly special to me, because we've all been a part of creating it from the very beginning, and have been a part of his family for so long that it's beyond comprehension how much it means to me and to the group that's making it," he added.

"So, it's really weird for that to kind of sink in, how loved it is. I've got nothing but gratitude toward people that have put their time and energy into being fans of the show and into waiting as long as they have to see what we're making. It's the greatest thing I'll ever do."

Matarazzo is filming the fifth and final season of the show now, but he's already looking to the future.

Working with director Boots Riley someday would be a dream come true, but Broadway also is beckoning Matarazzo back.

"I would love to continue theater. That's always my ultimate goal is to see how much time I have between stuff so I can go and jump back on stage, if possible," he said.

"After I finish filming Season 5 for Stranger Things, there is an open space, and there's some time there, so I kind of want to jump into things I haven't necessarily done very much, or things I think I'm not particularly very good at because I'd like to try to get better at those things, especially while I'm still pretty young."