Long before Willow, Warwick Davis first came to George Lucas' attention on the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi. In that picture, he warmed audiences' hearts as the fearless yet loveable little Ewok, Wicket. Thinking back, however, Warwick admits that it was a lucky break that got him the role.

"I was just an extra to begin with," he recalls. "The guy who was supposed to play Wicket, Kenny Baker, got ill on the day he was supposed to be doing it, so they panicked and got me over there. I ended up doing the scene with Princess Leia on the log. It was the first time you saw the Ewoks, really. I was in the right place at the right time. That was sort of my big break. And they probably wouldn't have known about me for Willow if it hadn't been for Jedi.

For Warwick, Willow was a refreshing change. At last he was able to wear a less claustrophobic costume rather than the head-to-toe Ewok suit in Return of the Jedi and the subsequent Ewok adventures.

"The Ewok costume itself had a fur coating outside and a foam padding inside to make the shape of the characters. The head was the same way and had giant orange contact lenses so we always saw everything in an orange hue. After about a minute with the mask on, the eyes would mist up and you couldn't see anything! I ended up looking out the nose just to see!"

Now, after playing several major characters in George Lucas productions, which character, for Warwick, has been the most rewarding?

"That's a difficult question," he answers. "I enjoyed Wicket while I was doing it. I didn't like Wicket, however, because of the costume. It got a bit tiring doing that after a day and it was very hot. But I liked playing a furry, little creature like that. Being behind the mask was sort of fun, too. But I would have to say that I enjoyed playing Willow more because I was free to move around and wasn't hampered by a costume. I enjoyed playing Wicket but I don't think I'll be playing him anymore. I asked George about the Ewoks and he said he wasn't going to be doing anything more with them."

At age 11, Warwick entered the film business as a small and furry Ewok. But acting isn't something he desires to do for the rest of his life. In fact, his future ambitions lie behind the camera as a director.

"I had fun doing the whole picture," Warwick states. "I can't really think of a time when I said, 'Gee, I hope this ends soon.' I enjoyed New Zealand a lot--that was really fun there with the helicopter trips to the locations."

"I'm making video films of my own now," he reveals. "I'm really into that kind of thing. Actually, I had George and Ron look at one of my videos and they said it was very good. Eventually, I would like to be a director. Acting isn't a very secure profession. You can get one job and then not have anything for a year after that. So I would like to be directing in between acting jobs. But I enjoy working behind the scenes. I was doing that on the set of Willow. You can learn a lot just by looking at what different jobs people are doing on the set. It's very interesting.

"I'm trying to get into some things here in England. I'm not really sure how to go about it. It's more difficult in England because the film industry isn't as big over here. I don't know whether or not I should go to a film school because that could take five or six years and you're not even certain you're going to get a job then. So I might start at the bottom and work my way up. I think that's the best way. I'm sort of at a dead point at the moment--I'm not sure which way to go. I think, in the end, I may have to move to the United States. I would like to do what Ron Howard did: go from acting to directing.

"I've entered my videos in competitions," he adds, "and I won six awards in the last competition. I've just entered the international competition which is very prestigious. I entered the short film that George and Ron saw called Video Nasty. It's a two-minute film about a guy who watches TV 24 hours a day and eventually his video recorder turns upon him and the tape comes out and sort of wraps around him and drags him into the video recorder. He ends up on the screen sort of pounding away to get out! It's really short and simple but I like to do lots of special effects and the judges have liked it up to now. I make films that I think the audience will like and that will appeal to them."

There is no doubt but that the character of Willow Ufgood is appealing to many people. His journey in the film captured our imaginations. Would Warwick like to return to the land of Willow again someday?

"I would love to do another one," he exclaims. "But I can't imagine where they could go with Willow now. I think it would have to team Willow and Madmartigan again. I would relate their relationship to Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. It's very similar to that. Actually, I noticed a lot of similarities between Star Wars and Willow. For instance, at the end of Return of the Jedi, there's a battle going on between Luke and Darth Vader and there's a big battle going outside with all the ships. The same kind of thing is going on in Willow at the end. The sorceresses, Raziel and Bavmorda, are fighting inside while outside there's a big battle going on between all the troops. So I've noticed there are some similarities. I think it's a successful formula.

Willow does indeed have all the action and adventure of George Lucas' past films. Not only is it enjoyable to watch, it was also, according to Warwick, a most enjoyable film to make.