Fans of the original series of Lost in Space will have let out a little squee when a picture of Will Mumy (the original Will Robinson) meeting Max Jenkins (who plays the character in Netflix’s update) appeared on Twitter last year. While Mumy’s role in the new show is a short-lived cameo, the two TV Wills have struck up a bond.

“Bill Mumy is one of the few people who can understand what I’m going through. He’s such a nice guy and I’m so grateful to have his support,” says the 12-year-old actor.

“He gave me the best advice of all, which was to always have fun. He said that whenever he was on set, no matter how serious or no matter how late you were filming or no matter what the location you were filming in was like, always have fun. He said that’s what made filming Lost in Space magical for him. So from when I met him to this day, when I’m doing press or filming on stage, I always remember it’s all about having fun.”

Jenkins says the pair bonded over music and comic books, and have remained firm friends.

“When he came to the set I had this school project, because I had to continue school while on set, where I had to write a song about one of my heroes. And I realised we both loved Pete Seeger. So we wrote kind of a protesty-style song about Pete Seeger. To this day we are still in touch and I have dinner at Bill’s house when I go to LA. We text all the time about what’s been going on in our lives, and I’m really proud to call him a friend.”

All 10 episodes of Lost in Space are now airing on Netflix.

• Lost in Space: Netflix TV show fostered a real sense of family
• Lost in Space teaser goes behind the scenes of the Netflix reboot
• Netflix’s Lost in Space is not what you’re expecting
• Raza Jaffrey Cast In Netflix Lost In SpaceReboot
• Netflix’s Lost in Space S01E01-05 Spoiler Free REVIEW