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Starlog: Warwick Davis Return of the Ewok

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Warwick Davis is an unusual movie star. His face has never been seen on the screen, he's only 15 years old, he lives in a quiet suburb a few miles from London, England - and he stands 2'11" tall.

These are unusual credentials for stardom. But costumed as Wicket the Ewok, Davis has created screen delight for millions of moviegoers and TV viewers in Return of the Jedi and The Ewok Adventure.

The young English actor was just 11 when he first entered the Star Wars world. "They had an ad on a local radio station. They wanted small people for a part in a film. My grandmother was listening to the radio, and she phoned my mother. The next day, Mum phoned up the studios, and they said, 'Well, we have got all the people we need, but how tall is he?' She said, 'About two-foot-seven,' and they said, 'Wow! He is a child, but bring him along and we'll see....' So, I went along to Elstree Studios, and they said, 'Go down for a fitting' - the secretary just said that, without even consulting the director - and I got the part then.

Now, Davis is back in a new TV special, a second Ewok adventure scheduled for airing this holiday season on ABC TV. Lensed in secrecy by Lucasfilm earlier this year and known only by the working title Ewok II or Son of Ewok, the two-hour TV movie was directed by brothers Ken and Jim Wheat and produced by Tom Smith (STARLOG #89), with a story by executive producer George Lucas. Wicket undergoes some changes in his latest tale.

"He has really become a young warrior now, and he's getting into everything. He has to rescue the girl, Cindal, from the evil witch," says Davis. Portrayed by five-year-old Aubree Miller, Cindal was also featured in The Ewok Adventure. Fifteen-year-old Eric Walker also reprises his role as Mace, Davis notes, "just for about two minutes at the beginning."

But Ewok II is less concerned with characters than the first Ewok film was. "There's far more action in it, and it's a stronger storyline - it's more like Star Wars," Davis observes. "It has many battles and things like that."

"Wilford (Cocoon) Brimley is in it. He plays Noah," the young actor explains. "What happens in this story is Cindal and Wicket are in the forest and they find this cottage that Noah lives in; he's an old hermit, he doesn't want to have any other people around him. Eventually, he takes us in. Everything continues from there. Wilford was good to work with, very professional."

Not everyone in Ewok II is good. "There's a villain called Terrak and the witch, Chiral, and there's a whole army of these really evil pirate monsters," Davis reveals.

The movie was lensed in complete secrecy. "I did seven weeks from May 11 and then I went back to England. Two weeks later, I did a few more weeks," Davis says.

"We did quite a lot of location stuff in the Redwoods around San Rafael and then we went to ILM to do some of the special FX and most of the indoor scenes inside the cottage and castle."

With Wicket in the thick of the action, Davis has an even larger role than in The Ewok Adventure. "It was fun, but I had much more action stuff to do," he says. "I did a few stunts. I had to swing across a moat and into a wall and climb up the wall on a rope." Davis wasn't worried about the risks involved. "The stunt coordinator, Mike Cassidy, said it was OK - and I trust him."

Executive producer George Lucas kept his customary low profile on the set - with one exception. "He came around a few times and once he came around with Michael Jackson," Davis says. "I had my photograph taken with him. I had the Wicket head on." Of Jackson, who is working with Lucas on Captain Eo, a 3-D musical film for the Disney theme parks, Davis notes, "He's very quiet. He just stands back."

Changing a schoolboy from England into an Ewok from Endor was an unusual task. "When we went down to the costume fitting, there were many pictures on the wall, of all the Ewoks," Davis recalls. "They weren't exactly the same as the look [in Jedi], just the preliminary drawings. But that's how I guessed. And when I saw the costumes, I knew what they were like: teddy bears."

Whatever their appearance, Ewok costumes are not cuddly to be in. "You wear pajamas underneath. Then, there's padding to give it shape. And fur goes on top of that." Thus, the ornamental Ewok battle dress is the performer's fourth layer of clothing. "After a while, it gets hot, and then it gets uncomfortable," says Davis. "You sit around with this bottom half on, and you put on the head only when you're about to shoot."

But the costume does help Davis create Wicket's distinctive character solely by body movement, without words or facial expression. "When you've got this costume on, you turn into the character," he says. "The costume really makes you move like that, because it's so bulky and heavy. So it's quite easy. You talk as well" - he mumbles gibberish - "they don't mind about that, they can dub it over afterwards."

What really makes Wicket memorable is his first tentative confrontation with Princess Leia - the moment that Ewok meets rebel takes significant place in the Star Wars legend. "I wasn't meant to do it at the time, one of the others was going to do it," he explains. Kenny Baker, the dwarf who operates R2-D2, was also portraying an Ewok, and was originally scheduled to play the scene with Carrie Fisher, but Baker fell ill with food poisoning. Of all the other Ewok performers, the filmmakers felt that Davis had most effectively conveyed their vision of an Ewok.

"They called me down there, and I did it. I didn't know it was a very important bit, I just did what the director said. Then, it turned out to be one of Jedi's major scenes." Lensing the scene took half-a-day's work for the crew. But for Davis, restricted by child labor regulations, the four hours the scene took to shoot "was my whole day."

Davis' age was atypical among the Ewok performers - the majority were adult little people. "There were three children, and all the rest were adults," he notes. Wicket's character reflects Davis' own age and lively temperament. "I knew he was quite young, the son of one of the other Ewoks," Davis said, "so I knew he would be quite playful. I just worked on that."

Off-set, Davis also worked on another movie project. David Tomblin, Jedi's second unit and assistant director (STARLOG #86) conceived the idea. "He thought I was a really good Ewok and everything," enthuses Davis, "and he had written the script. He kept thinking of it in the night, he used to jump up and write little bits. Eventually, he ended up with this whole story, and we made this little film." Under Tomblin's direction, a humorous half-hour semi-documentary, semi-fictional film was made, charting Davis' initiation into the world of Ewoks and blockbuster moviemaking. "I think they used bits of it for promoting Return of the Jedi, but nothing else," says Davis. However, a copy of Tomblin's "little film," transferred onto videocassette, is preserved next to the Davis family TV set. It is a very special, professionally made "home movie" of one boy's real Star Wars adventure.

In The Ewok Adventure (STARLOG #89, 90), Davis returned as Wicket for exploits in a two-hour TV movie (released overseas as a feature entitled Caravan of Courage). Wicket's larger role meant an opportunity for Davis to refine his characterization. "Wicket was just a son of Deej and Shodu, and I had two Ewok older brothers and a younger sister in it," he says, detailing the family relationships. "And my dad went off to the war, to get Weechee and Widdle from the forest. And I wanted to go, being the big brave son, and Mum wouldn't let me go, but then I went up there. I was jealous of my two brothers. I wanted to be a big warrior like my dad."

When off the set of The Ewok Adventure, Davis worked behind the camera on a parallel project. The impetus for this other film came from Davis' friendship with co-star Eric Walker. "George Lucas hired a video camera for us - I took my own as well, just to make a film of the holiday - and we made a documentary of it," says Davis. The two worked under the name "W & W Productions" (for Warwick and Walker). "We were just filming around the set, what was happening. And we put that together with some music." Once again, the finished production didn't reach the public - it was intended strictly for private viewing.

Filming's end brought a surprise - the participation of executive producer George Lucas. "On Jedi, George came on to the set just to look over everything," Davis observes. "And on The Ewok Adventure, he started directing in the end. He had a little go at directing - he liked it! He was just looking around the first month or two of filming, and then he started directing at the end, just to get the last few scenes done." Lucas inspired fast work from his crew. "He shot along!" Davis says. "The whole crew was saying, 'Yes, George! Anything, George!' "

Lucas wasn't the only extra filmmaker on the movie. "I filmed one of the shots," Davis notes. "I forget which one it was - one of the tracking shots. I was just holding the camera there, I started moving it, and just followed the action. It was good."

Being on set offered Davis the chance to increase his moviemaking knowledge. "I watch all the things that are happening. I always watch all the special FX and the camera," he says. Davis has long-term ambitions in movies. "I would like to do anything with films if I can - cameraman, anything, even if it's just special FX or editing.

"I make little films on my video camera. We do five-minute live action mystery things, my sister and I, and another friend, Stuart." As well as movies, Davis' interest in SF existed before his Jedi role. "I had a Star Wars duvet cover and all the Star Wars figures," he says. "And I like science-fiction films."

When he's not working on a movie, the day-to-day reality of Davis' life is similar to that of many 15-year-olds. He goes to a regular school Monday to Friday. On Saturday, he attends an acting school, as he has done since age eight. In the evenings, he often watches TV.

But since birth, Davis has also led a life significantly different from anyone else. Victim of a genetic defect, he will forever be shorter in height than others. For Davis, big screen acting has been one step in dealing with a lifetime handicap of being small. It was luck - and Lucasfilm - that allowed him, despite his age and size, to capitalize on his natural talents as a performer.

His latest step on the ladder of success is a role in Labyrinth, director Jim Henson's fantasy adventure which combines puppetry and animatronic techniques first used in The Dark Crystal and for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, human actors and performers in costume. "I'm playing two goblins," Davis reveals. "One of them is Bumpot and the other is called World War II. They're two different characters and they swap around for different shots. The goblins are in this little village and all three heroes of the film come along into the village. There's the human, this big furry thing called Ludo and Hoggle, a little goblin. They're the three main characters. I'm not sure about the rest of the story. I haven't got a script."

Davis is working in costume again. "The goblin costume is leather, pounds of leather and armor, and helmets. They're very heavy - the head part because they've got all the radio control equipment in them to operate the eyes and the mouths.

They must have all the video monitors set up so that the puppeteers can see what they're doing. That's really complicate," Davis says. "You do a shot on the average of five times. The most takes we've done is 32 and then you do about five shots in a day; it's a great deal of work."

The actor has enjoyed working with Henson. "He's very fun, I like him a lot. You can see Kermit in there all the time," Davis giggles, "in his voice when he talks."

When shooting on Labyrinth finishes, Davis has no more immediate acting plans, though Ewok III is a distinct possibility. "I think there might be plans for another," he says. If so, it'll be another big credit for a unique movie star; just 15 years old and less than three feet tall, Warwick Davis.