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Starlog: Our Favorite Ewok

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Warwick Davis, that warrior Willow, has grown up in STARLOG's pages. Now, he's teaching Harry Potter.

For many actors, finding that next job is a job in itself. But for Warwick (pronounced War-ick) Davis, the recent years have been pretty busy.

"The last three or four years have been quite good, but you talk to most actors and they will have something else that they do, another skill, because acting is a strange profession," Davis explains. "In the early '90s, there was a time when I didn't work for 10 months, and it was quite scary. And anything I do now could be my last role. There's nothing that says you will be offered something else. You've got to take every job as it comes, and treat it with respect."

Davis, best know as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi and as the heroic title character of the new-to-DVD Willow (out this month) has another trick up his sleeve for when the acting dries up: He has familiarized himself with being behind the camera as much as in front of it. "I was working on Jedi and the Ewok TV movies, and I got this taste for the making of films. You're there on set [as an actor], and much of the time you're just sitting and waiting to do something. I liked watching how the [crew] did it, and bought a video camera with the money I had earned on Jedi. I made movies and I quite enjoyed it. I entered competitions with films, and did well in those, so I thought, 'Great, this is fun,' and started to get the urge to direct more than act. I also thought that if acting doesn't carry on for me, I'll have something else I can do.

"I went to college to study film, television and journalism," he continues. "But before I did my exams, I got the role in Willow and never actually completed [school]. It gave me good groundwork, though, and I do make videos even today - training videos and that sort of thing - when I'm not working."

But for the time being, Davis happily admits, he will leave his camera behind and stay in front of someone else's. "It's weird, because the Harry Potter situation is unusual. I know there's going to be another one, so it's quite a nice feeling as a performer to know that I have something else to do soon."

Ewok Destinies

There is another sequel that many people might expect to co-star Davis, but the actor is quick to quell the rumor. "I wasn't in Episode II," he says of the next Star Wars installment, "and it's good to publish that, because it's one of the most popular questions I get asked. But sadly, no. There really wasn't anything for me, and that's that. If there was something George Lucas thought I could play or was suitable for me, he would have said, 'Warwick, come on board and do this.' But obviously there wasn't. Whether or not the computer has taken over in the world of Lucasfilm and all my roles have gone to a microchip, I don't know," he laughs.

"But around the same time, I got Harry Potter. I'm sorry for all those Star Wars fans. It's wonderful, because they really want me to be in it. They're so disappointed when I say no, and surprised I'm not weeping over it. They ask, 'You're not in it? Are you sad?' And I say, 'Well, yeah, it would have been nice to do it, but it's not the end of the world.' The fans liked it when the actors from the classic trilogy came over to Episode I, and would have liked me to carry over. But you never know, maybe Episode III?"

Early on, Davis discussed the dawn of his career in STARLOG #101 and his Willow work in #133. Today, he's still up front about the two people who changed his life: his grandmother and Lucas. "I attribute my talking to you to my Nan," he announces. "In 1981, she happened to hear a commercial on the radio in London looking for small people to be in the next Star Wars movie, which was Return of the Jedi. So if she hadn't heard that... Then George spotted me during Jedi and gave me the part of Wicket to play. He brought me from the background to the foreground, and then asked me to be in the Ewok movies and Labyrinth. He has been very instrumental in me doing quite well as an actor. He came up with the concept of Willow from meeting me. In 1983, he said to my Mum, while we were doing the Ewok movie, 'I have this idea kind of based on Warwick I want to do as a film. It's not for now; it's a few years down the road. But I just wanted to let you know.'

"He didn't mention it would be called Willow or anything about it. Then, in 1986, I was on holiday and got a call that said, 'Warwick, Ron Howard and George Lucas want to meet you and discuss a film with you.' I don't remember my reaction. If I got that kind of call now, I would freak out. So I went, and they discussed Willow. Then I went to audition for the role, because although George wrote it for me and I was the guy he wanted to do it, Ron was the director. I think it was quite difficult for Ron to imagine a 17-year-old playing a 30-40-year-old father with two children. He wanted to check that there wasn't anybody more suitable.

"I auditioned three or four times, finishing up in Los Angeles reading in on the auditions for Madmartigan," Davis relates. "I read the character of Willow while these guys were coming in all day, one after another - people like John Cusack, Matt Frewer, who was Max Headroom, and endless other names, including Val Kilmer. I remember Val coming in that day. He was so scruffily dressed. I seem to remember him in sandals, looking a bit hippified. He was very red in the face, because he had driven to the audition in a convertible and gotten sunburn. He staggered in and did the audition. There was immediate chemistry, this tension between characters.

By the end of the day, I had probably read the scene 30 times, and they took me aside and said, 'Well done, Warwick. We want you to play Willow.' It was my final test of endurance; a taste of the punishment I was going to get over the next few months. From pre-production to the end, it was at least six months - by far the longest shoot I've ever been on."

Warrior Fates

Though it's one of the most highly requested DVDs, Willow wasn't a success upon its initial theatrical release in 1988. "It's an odd phenomenon," Davis comments, "because box-office-wise, it wasn't considered a hit. The trouble was, it was up against Rambo III, which now sounds like 'What?' But back then, Rambo was big news, and also Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was ground-breaking in its special effects and animation. When people normally pick a movie to see, and haven't got tons of money to spend, they say, 'What movie do you want to see this month?' Many of the people who wanted a family film picked Roger Rabbit, I guess, and if they wanted action and adventure they picked Rambo. So Willow got left out there."

Theatrical performance no longer determines the longevity of a film, as the later popularity of Willow proves. "Subsequently, video-wise and on TV and now DVD, it has been huge," Davis discloses. "I mean, people can never get the videos. They're all sold out. They've been reissued numerous times, certainly in Britain. I don't know about America. I often go into a shop and there's a Willow video with a new label on it; some other company has bought the right to put the video out.

"A great amount of people all over the world have said to me, 'Our kids, they watch that movie over and over again. We had to buy another video, they wore it out!' It's great that they're doing a DVD, because I would like to see someone wear one of those out," he jokes. "Willow has this second wind, this life to it now, 14 years later. To me, certainly, when I go out in everyday life, it seems like a movie I've just done, the way people talk about it. 'Great! You're the guy from Willow. We love that!' It's like it was out in theaters last week. So it's good for me as an actor that this film has such a life to it."

Davis credits the newfound success of Willow and the phenomenal popularity of Star Wars to their creator. "One of the key things with all of George's movies is that they have this watchability factor," he explains. "You can watch them many, many times and not tire of them. The characters are so well-formed, and there's so much depth to them. You look at Willow and Star Wars - there are so many things in them. You watch them again and you find something new every time.

"In the case of Willow, children can identify with Willow on many levels, one of them being a heroic character who gets involved in this fantastical, wonderful, marvelous adventure, but is their height. Children can really identify with that and put themselves in Willow's shoes. Whereas if they watch something like James Bond, they may like what he does, but he's not their height, so they always think they're at a disadvantage in that respect - you know what I mean?

"The movie is so popular with children. My daughter, she's four, and she saw the video the other day. She had seen it a few times, because I had been working through it to figure out what I was going to say in my DVD commentary. She just felt like watching it, and the next morning she put it on again. I was like 'Uh-oh, I'm going to be one of those parents who has a worn-out video, moaning that my children are watching it too much.' But she doesn't identify it with me too much. She doesn't ask 'Why are you doing that?' She sees the character as Willow."

The ability of DVDs to present new information on films - commentary tracks, documentaries and various other supplementary materials - in a space-saving format is one factor of its popularity. The Willow team took advantage of that, and Davis was given the nod to step up to the microphone. "I did a commentary for the DVD, which was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my professional career," he confesses. "Thinking back, the movie was made 14 years ago, and to bring back all those memories and also talk for two hours - I'm not doing a bad job now [in this interview], but when you look at the picture and try to think of something intelligent and interesting to say about everything, it's so hard.

"My wife was there and told me, 'Don't worry. You don't have to speak the entire time. Give people a chance to digest what you said,'" Davis laughs. "I was afraid of silence when I was doing it, and was totally exhausted after it, I must say. I felt like I had just given everything. The commentary has gotten some very positive feedback from the people at Lucasfilm. We'll see how the public likes it, because they're the most important people at the end of the day.

"I just feel flattered to be asked. I'm honored. Ron was going to do one, but he's so busy that he didn't get the chance. You can't just walk into the studio. You have to prepare something, because you have to bring back your memories. Whereas if you've just done a film last year, your immediate impressions are still there."

Lucky Charms

With the release this month of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Davis proudly joins yet another film phenomenon. "I play Professor Flitwick, who's the Professor of Charms. I'm reading the fourth Potter book, and he's in every one," the actor remarks. "They've optioned four movies at this point. We're definitely doing the second one, and I'll again be playing Professor Flitwick. But in the first one, I also play the goblin bank teller, your worst nightmare for a bank manager.

"They cast me as Flitwick and then said, 'We would like you to do this other part as well.' It's one of my specialties, doing multiple roles. I don't think it will ever be like Episode I, where I did four different things [Wald, Weazel, Grimy and a Yoda stand-in], but in Harry Potter I managed to pluck up two in the first one, so we'll wait and see. But you won't really recognize me in either role, because I'm wearing prosthetic makeup. It took four hours to apply. I look very different, which as an actor is fabulous. It's great fun trying to create someone who's so different from yourself that you're almost unrecognizable. It's a challenge."

Though a Harry Potter film would have been a draw no matter what, the all-star cast provided a grand appeal. "It's unbelievable!" Davis exclaims. "I couldn't believe the list of names I'm amongst in the cast. There are scenes in the Great Hall, where the professors eat with all the school's pupils, and I was at the head table. I looked to my left and saw Maggie Smith and Richard Harris. I looked to my right, and there were Zoë Wanamaker and Alan Rickman. Then, down at the end, there was Robbie Coltrane. It was just totally incredible. I didn't think I was worthy of that position at all. And there were so may people I didn't work with - Julie Walters and John Cleese. It was great. I'm honored, very honored.

"I remember auditioning. I was so nervous, because as an actor, if you really want to get the part, they're the ones you don't get. You go in and you're nervous and you want it and these things go through your mind - 'Oh, I'm going to blow it' - and you try and do it right and it goes wrong. Luckily, with this one," Davis says, "I wanted it, I read the book, I prepared it well and went in and gave it my best shot. I immediately struck up a relationship with director Chris Columbus; he is such a nice guy. We got on very well. Actually, I was lucky, because the same lady from the Willow casting session was also running the casting session for Harry Potter in London. So I knew her and it immediately set me at ease, and that helped me very much."

Davis has made a career out of fantasy films, one of which has already beaten Star Wars in notching up sequel number four. "Leprechaun is a phenomenon unto itself. It kind of ranks up alongside Willow, in that I get e-mails about Leprechaun just as much as I do Willow. It's hugely popular," the actor notes, not surprised at all. "'Will there be a Leprechaun 6 or 'Will there be a Willow 2?" are the most popular questions I get now. And at this point, neither of them is going to be a yes because I don't know. Everybody wants Leprechaun 6. I would love to make it myself. I often think about buying the rights and just making the movie, because I know it would be successful. There's a huge audience out there for it.

"Most of the things I've done are fantasy, science fiction sort of roles. It would be nice to do something that's just me in jeans and a T-shirt on a regular street," Warwick Davis admits, "but I'm not bothered by the fact that that doesn't happen very often. I've done different small things like that, and it's not a bother to create one of these characters in a fantasy world - whether you're wearing makeup or not - because it's a great challenge for an actor to become somebody totally different. And I enjoy working. So whatever comes along, whether it be science fiction, fantasy or horror, I enjoy doing it."