Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center

People: Star Wars Where Are They Now

Star Wars Where Are They Now - Warwick Davis

This article by John Bruce Westbrook appeared on People.com on May 9, 2002.
 

Warwick Davis stood at 2'11" during the filming of Return of the Jedi (left); Davis at the Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone premiere in 2001 (right).

Don't let the cute Ewok suit fool you -- Warwick Davis is someone to be reckoned with. After making his debut in Return of the Jedi, he earned the title role in the 1988 Lucas-produced, Ron Howard-directed fantasy Willow, and went on to obtain a cult following playing an evil Irish creature in five Leprechaun movies.

Davis, who stands 3'4", found out about the role of Wicket the Ewok from his grandmother, who heard a radio advertisement seeking people under 4 feet tall. The part gave him the chance to get know his tall costars. "I have hugged Harrison Ford's leg, and not many people can say t hat," Davis joked to PEOPLE in 1997. The native Brit, who was 12 years old (and 2'11") when he was cast in Jedi, went on to reprise his role in two Ewok TV movies. He met wife Samantha on the set of Jim Henson's 1986 film Labyrinth; they have one daughter, Annabelle.

Most recently, Davis played Professor Flitwick in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and he will reprise that role for the next Harry Potter installment. Davis also appeared for a split second in The Phantom Menace (look fast for him sitting close to Jabba the Hut during the pod race scene). Offscreen, Davis organizes a charity called the Wicket the Ewok Appeal, which raises money for England's Peterborough's Hospital Special Care Baby Unit.