Erin Kellyman and Ruby Cruz Gush About Kit and Jade’s Romance in ‘Willow’

Willow Episode 5 “Wildwood” changes the relationship between Kit (Ruby Cruz) and Jade (Erin Kellyman) forever. Not only do the long-time besties finally admit to their romantic feelings for one another, but Jade learns that she is in fact the long-lost daughter of Bone Reaver General Kael (Pat Roach). That not only means that Jade gets to be reunited with sister Scorpia (Adwoa Aboah), but that, uh, Kit’s dad Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) killed Jade’s dad.

This revelation naturally threatens to drive a wedge between the young women, but thanks to the magic of truth plums, their love conquers all. Well, not really. The two were about to lean in for a much more romantic version of their Episode 1 kiss when a monster kidnaps Kit and pulls her away.

Still, Willow on Disney+ has officially confirmed that Kit and Jade are in love with each other. It’s not subtext or something strongly suggested. This is an out gay romance.

Willow creator Jonathan Kasdan told Decider that the reason Jade and Kit kissed in the first place all the way back in Episode 1 was because it was “built into [his] DNA.”

“It’s built into my writing DNA. That is the kind of impulse my father would have. He would say, ‘If two people have that much tension and excitement between them, why don’t they kiss? And why isn’t it messy? And why can’t they not know how either of them feel about them?'” Kasdan said, nodding to the lessons he learned from his father Lawrence Kasdan. As a writer/director Lawrence Kasdan is famous for making The Big Chill and Body Heat, but he’s perhaps best remembered for his work on the scripts for Lucasfilm flicks The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. “That’s totally his voice in my head saying that’s the bold decision and that’s honestly the truthful decision.”

Both of the actresses who play Kit and Jade gushed about the storyline to Decider.

“Their relationship means so much to me and it was really, really awesome to get the opportunity to represent — I think — a realistic, complicated, confusing friendship between two young women,” Ruby Cruz said. “I think friendship can get really confusing in queerness and I was really excited to represent that and dive into that.”

“It’s quite hard to sum up into words or like a sentence how it quite feels to be a queer actress stepping into this role,” Erin Kellyman said. “I think I really needed that when I was a kid. So I’m so glad that I’m able to do that now for younger or older people that are just figuring themselves out.”

Kellyman was reluctant to dive deeper into their relationship because she wanted fans to “experience [it] naturally,” but she did tease that her favorite Kit/Jade scene is coming up in Episode 7. Cruz’s favorite moment, though, is in this week’s episode of Willow.

“I think the moment in [Episode] 5 where right before I get swooped that was really fun to film,” Cruz said. “Because so much of their relationship was just, like, beating around the bush and it was finally so wonderful to witness Kit and Jade finally admit to each other how they felt.”

Of course, this admission comes after another rather dramatic for the young couple. When the Bone Reavers capture our heroes, it comes as quite a shock to all that the leader of the Bone Reavers, Scorpia, recognizes Jade as her long-lost little sister. It seems that the Bone Reavers didn’t kill Jade’s family. She was in fact kidnapped from her people and raised within Tir Asleen in a sort of re-education program that recalls similar events in modern history where indigenous children were separated from their family and raised to “assimilate” to colonist culture.

Kellyman spoke with Decider about how this revelation both helps Jade “feel at home” for the first time while exposing a key stumbling block in her ongoing relationship with Kit.

“Jade has, you know, grown up without a family and she doesn’t really know who she is or where she comes from. And I think for so many years, she’s constantly just pushed that down because it hurts too much,” Kellyman said. “It’s something that I don’t think she’s been able to talk to Kit about because Kit is, you know, from this very privileged family.”

“So she just pushed it down constantly. But I think there were like moments at night where she will like really, really get into it and deep it and feel really lost and lonely. And then the next morning, they’d be like, gone.”

“That’s how I imagine she has kind of navigated her way through this situation. And so I think honestly her world is probably just completely spun into a whirlwind like and flipped it all upside down and on its side and yeah. I think it made her feel at home,” Kellyman said.

Co-star Amar Chadha-Patel said, “I mean it’s probably worse that it makes me your brother-in-law.” As it’s also revealed that Scorpia and Boorman have an ongoing romance.

“We’re not talking about it,” Kellyman quipped.