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| Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center | |||||
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HorrorHound: Leprechaun in da House |
Other stuff: Email - Guestbook |
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| Warwick Davis and artist Sean Green |
He's played an Ewok, a wizard, a professor, a hustler, and an alien; but it is his performance as the malevolent Leprechaun that keeps British actor Warwick Davis in the minds of horror fans all over the world. In anticipation of the release of a brand new collectable statue of the Leprechaun, we spoke exclusively with Warwick about the production of the figure from concept to sculpture and his experience working with artist Sean Green on the piece, the love for the Lep and whether or not the luck of the Irish will grant us a seventh adventure in the Leprechaun series.
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| The completed figure and clover base (suitable for autographing) |
HorrorHound: Warwick, could you tell us how you first came to meet Sean Green and how the figure came to be?
Warwick Davis: I met Sean in Birmingham, England a number of years ago. He was a fan of the Leprechaun movies and he happened to have some of his sculptures with him and I was very impressed with those. He expressed an interest in doing a Leprechaun sculpture and asked if that was something I wouldn't mind having done. So initially it was a project that he wanted to do and just really wanted me to know about it, and then I had the idea of making it more widely available to fans of the movie.
HH: Was it originally an articulated figure he wanted to make or a static posed figurine?
WD: It's a fixed posed statue. Not really an action figure of any sorts just purely a decorative piece. And it really is just that, because I had the painted prototype on the mantle in my house for a couple of days and it was something I really didn't want to have to send back off again to China.It really is a beautiful piece and I can't wait for the first batch of mass-produced sculpts to come back, because I am so pleased with how it has turned out. It's a very good likeness, which is something that Sean does very well.
HH: We've kept a close eye on the in-progress shots of the piece on your website and it is fantastic how it has come together; from the Leprechaun's evil grin right down to the buckles on his shoes. It seems as though every detail is accounted for and perfected before the next stage is even looked at.
WD: Yeah, well Sean started with the face and got that right. And then once
he's got a completed head he'll work on the rest of it. I remember commenting when
I first saw the head and bearing in mind he's working on such a small
scale, the face is no bigger than a 50-pence piece and I couldn't help looking
at it and imagining my face being sculpted underneath that. Everything about
it was so perfect that it felt like he'd sculpted my face and then the make-up
on top. Even later on when the figure was nearly completed, I sent him a
piece of the original make-up that I had kept for souvenirs sake and he went
back and included more minute details such as a little wart on the Leprechaun's nose
and a whole bunch of little details that only the most die hard 'Lep'
fans would notice if they weren't there.
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| Detailed shots of the figure in production, including a look at the back and side, as well as a close-up of the unpainted head. | |
HH: As for the actual pose and design, did you play any part in selecting what you wanted the figure to look like or did you give Sean creative control?
WD: I just gave him the pose that I thought the character should be in. I suggested that he should be teasing the owner of the figure by holding the coin, almost gesturing for you to take it from him in his very "It's mine and you can't have it" kind of way. The base, I thought it was only right to have him stand on a clover leaf. It has actually been so cleverly designed that I can sign the middle clover leaf for collectors. So many times I'm offered Star Wars figures to sign and there's nowhere for you to sign so you end up writing on a curve or something just as awkward so, I figured from the get go that if I am going to have any say in the matter then there should be somewhere nice and accessible to sign the piece for fans.
As for the look of the figure, I sent Sean loads of photos, he watched the DVDs, and he went to fan websites
and managed to come out with a very accurate representation of the costume. It is very difficult to
work out a lot of the colors on the costume, and even tough for me to remember despite having
worn it. Plus the fact that I never actually saw the figure while it was being made.
The only way I saw the progress was through emails and photos, so every time Sean completed an area he
would send me a photo and then we would comment on it; and we did that a lot for the coloring of the costume.
As you can see from the photo, the finished painted piece is wonderful, butI don't have a date for when it
will be available yet. I am extremely eager to get it out to the fans but we
want to make sure that everything is right with both the figure and the packaging before we make that next
all important step. We're also looking to do exclusive variants purely for the collectors. For example we
have spoken about putting out an unpainted kit so that fans can paint it themselves and we have also toyed
around the idea of having a gold version of the statue as a chase figure that would be included in
dealer's shipments.
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| The fully-painted final sculpt which will soon be available at www.warwickdavis.co.uk |
HH: 'Chase the Leprechaun'... I love it! Going backto the figure's design, why did you guys settle on the Leprechaun's likeness from the fifth movie?
WD: Well, I quite like the fifth movie,and particularly the look of the character at the point. In each film, the make-up artist Gabe Bartalos, who horror fans will know from his work on Basket Case, Frankenhooker, all the Leprechaun movies and more recently he directed his first feature Skinned Deep; he would tweak the make-up with each successive film and I think with number five he got it to the point where the hair was much longer and the overall look was a touch more menacing. I just really loved the look of the make-up, the costume, everything from that 'Lep5' design. The costume went through a few dramatic changes from film to film; the only thing that really remained constant was the shoes. They always had these huge heels on them and I was always insistent on those because I had gotten used to them with each movie and felt very much in character whenever I had these shoes on, so if those were changed I don't think it would be the same. I am very precious about those.
HH: What was your initial reaction to seeing the finished piece?
WD: It literally came through the post, I opened the box and it was just... wow! The photos really didn't do it justice. The detailing on it was so exquisite, from the finger nails to the teeth; I just sat looking at it for hours. It's truly a piece that just captivates you, so yeah, I was thrilled. Straight up, Sean did a great job with it.
HH: Touching briefly on the popularity of the Leprechaun movies.What is it about the character, do you think, that has maintained a loyal fan base for over fifteen years?
WD: I don't know really. He is quite likeable no matter how often he may come across as
cheesy or corny. That's the beauty of it in a way, despite whatever evil and gruesome things
he does, you still have people cheering for him. Rather like Freddy Krueger in that respect. You
give the audience a good anti-hero and they will continue to come back for more. I had been
playing a lot of good guys such as Willow and the Ewoks, so I really needed a movie like Leprechaun
to say to the world that "yes, I'm a nice guy, but I can be nasty as an actor as well."
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| More shots of the figure in production, including a screen comparison shot of Warwick posing for the look of the piece. | |
HH: The films have definitely ranked themselves among the other classic 'holiday' horror fare such as Halloween and Friday The 13th. So how many more St. Patrick's days are we going to have to wait until we get a part seven?
WD: Well unfortunately at this moment I don't really know. It has been like that with most of the sequels in that one day I'll be wondering just that and then the phone will ring and I'll be told that there is going to be another one. It has been a few years since we did the sixth one but they have always been like that. If the timing is right then the studio will look through their catalogue and decide that they want to make another one. There is no reason why there won't be another one, but at the same time there is no guarantee that there will be. I really don't know at this point as there are some really good ideas out there as well as some REALLY BAD ideas so...*laughs* we shall just have to see what Lions Gate has up their sleeve.
HH: Now I have to ask you about the brand new Leprechaun figure that SOTA Toys are putting out as part of their NOW PLAYING line later this year. Were you aware of this release?
WD: Funnily enough I was in a meeting with Cards Inc. regarding our figure and as we left the office a fax had come in showing a picture of that figure based on his likeness in the first movie. All I can say is the more the better. I still want to see a Leprechaun bobble-head made at some point; it's all very encouraging to see more Leprechaun merchandise out there.
