There's a good chance that most people on the street would not recognize Kevin Pollak as the 9-inch-tall mischievous and feisty Brownie, Rool, from the film Willow. And there's good reason. Kevin, believe it or not, is much taller in real life and it's safe to say that his normal everyday apparel does not consist of animal skins, leaf tattoos, and a mouse head hat.

This talented actor/comedian, however, is becoming increasingly more popular and recognizable with his unique style of comedy. Kevin has an extensive background in stand-up comedy, appearing at clubs all over the country as well as numerous appearances on television and film. He is a regular on the new CBS series Coming of Age and has an HBO Comedy Special in the works.

The Lucasfilm Fan Club recently caught up with Kevin and talked with him about his role in the George Lucas/Ron Howard film Willow.

Kevin, how did you get the role of Rool the Brownie in Willow?

Well, they needed a couple of 9-inch-tall guys who had been known in the business as small leading men and they got the word out. Apparently, there weren't too many people of my stature who needed the work. Most of the people my size had work or were just financially independent! Actually, in reality, Rick Overton had been hired to play Franjean and he had worked with Ron Howard before. Ron asked him if there was anyone else he would feel good working with since these two Brownies would need to improvise together. And he and I had just finished a film called Million Dollar Mystery and he suggested me and a few other guys. I think they ended up looking at five of us. Each one of us would go into this room and be put on camera with Rick reading from the script and also improvising. So we all did that and they sent the tapes to Ron and George in London and they chose me. And Ron made it clear that Rick and I were chosen because of our abilities to improvise. I think physically we played well off of each other because of our size difference.

What was your first impression upon learning that you would be playing a 9-inch-tall character?

I thought, "You know, it's just my luck! I finally get to be in a movie directed by Ron Howard and produced by George Lucas and nobody will see me because I'm 9 inches tall!" But once it became clear that we would have close-ups and that we wouldn't just be 9 inches crawling across the screen, I felt better. It's kind of easy to put your silly ego aside when you do get an amazing opportunity like Willow. It's real easy to put it aside because your imagination just wanders with the possibilities of this opportunity.

What did you find most difficult?

The most frustrating part of it was not having actors and scenery. We were shooting in front of blue screens and oversized sets. I attribute whatever performance we ended up giving to Ron Howard for helping us to see scenery and actors where there were none. He really was our eyes and ears and we trusted him completely. It worked nicely because he trusted us to work off our instincts and improvising and so on.

Which scenes were improvised?

We had a week of rehearsal where Rick and I and Ron Howard sat around and talked about each scene. Ron would say, "Well, we'll do a couple of shots according to the script and then we'll do a couple where you guys do whatever you want. Work it out ahead of time." We improvised in rehearsal, in shooting, in blocking, and in looping after the film was done. We even relooped three weeks before the film was to be released. I was with George up at Skywalker Ranch putting some finishing touches on it, and he said, "Let's change a few things. You're not really that visible in this scene so you can say anything." And that's where the line, "Your mother was a lizard" came from. It's probably the most quoted line from the film and it was an adlib.

Did anything humorous happen while you were shooting?

Well, the day we got the whole crew to whistle the theme from The Andy Griffith Show for Ron was fun. I said, "Yeah, I bet he's never heard that before!" But we had a lot of fun with both Ron and George.

Kevin, describe a Brownie?

The tribe known as Brownies have been around longer than most because of their innate ability to survive. They are hunters, they are naturalists, and they are scavengers. They are almost completely unaware of their disadvantage due to their height and they have tremendous egos. They are mischievous and there's a very strong camaraderie and brotherhood amongst them. It's pretty much in their minds that it's them against the world and that they are the leaders and the champions. They are afraid of nothing until perhaps their lives are threatened. And then, of course, we hear the Brownie cry which is where the hands go up and the tongue comes out and they scream!

Did you like that mouse head hat you were wearing?

I thought the hat that I wore was a natural for Halloween. I desperately tried to get that hat but it's in the Lucasfilm Articles with Yoda and everything else.

Did you like working with Rick Overton?

Yeah, he was the perfect Franjean because Franjean had to really believe he was king of the world. Rool's greatest joy in life was to undermine Franjean's every command! Franjean was the leader and Rool was the tracker. Once that was established, it was great fun to play off of each other. And Ron let us do our own stuff. The scene by the campfire where Rool has the recurring rat dream was all improvised. Ron said, "Okay, you guys are sleeping. What dreams do Brownies have?" And I said, "Rats, rats! Big rats!" And Rick said, "Rool, no, you're just dreaming! You and that stupid recurring rat dream!" And that may be my favorite scene.

How did you come up with the French accent?

At first it was Norwegian or Swedish and then they said, "Let's make it kind of French and kind of not, so that it's not definitely French." So we tried to create something that was derivative of several languages.

Kevin, what will you remember most about Willow?

Showing up every day and sitting in my chair with my name on the back and seeing Rick, Ron and George. And I'll remember the family unit that was created and the people who worked so closely with us. The great thing was the family feeling we had but the strange thing is the loss you feel when it's over. I know if I see any of the people I worked with on Willow that bond that we formed will come back. But the greatest thing was the working environment that Ron and George created.

Kevin, thank you for the interview and we look forward to seeing you in many other things in the near future.