Madmartigan receives some coaching from director Ron Howard for his showdown with the Nockmaar.

"Playing a mythical character created no problem", actor Val Kilmer notes, feeling at home in the world of Willow, "although there are certain ways of behaving that aren't based on real circumstances. My early filming was with the Nelwyns, all of whom were under four feet in height. This, too, was no problem. It was a little strange, however, when I worked with Airk Thaughbaer [Gavan O'Herlihy], the leader of the rebel army. After weeks of looking down, I suddenly had someone to look up to."

Yet to a certain extent, his character always has someone to look up to and admire. "Madmartigan is on Warrior Skid Row when he first meets Willow [Warwick Davis]," Kilmer reveals. "He has seen better days. Madmartigan doesn't realize it when he meets this little Nelwyn that Willow is going to change his life and, in a way, reform him. Willow, at 3'4", is actually Madmartigan's big brother, metaphorically speaking.

As a "Warrior on Warrior Skid Row", Kilmer enjoys his swashbuckling role and his relationship with Sorsha. "Our characters went from hating to loving each other," the actor remarks.

"My relationship with Sorsha [Joanne Whalley] was a lot of fun. Our characters went from hating to loving each other. It's harder to be affectionate than it is to be aggressive or angry."

Kilmer, who works alongside actors Davis, Whalley, O'Herlihy, Pat Roach and others, has praise for his colleagues, a group assembled by executive producer George Lucas and director Ron Howard. "We had a really good cast and it has been very pleasurable working with all of them. Whether an actor was a little person or not didn't make any difference. Plus, when you play a character, you don't really see the other characters as people. It didn't mean I wasn't cordial or didn't have fun off camera with Pat or other actors with whom I was in conflict on screen, but you do tend to behave like your character does and spend more time with the actors on your side--the actors playing Willow, Airk and Sorsha.

"We had three weeks of script rehearsals before filming started and there have been no major changes in the storyline throughout the shooting," Kilmer comments. "But, changes always occur once the cameras turn and you wear the costume. Actually sitting on a horse playing a scene is very different from sitting in a rehearsal room. You discover things that are essential to telling the story that couldn't be anticipated--such as acting in torrential rain, and at night.

"I didn't have to prepare too much for the role," Kilmer confesses. "Sure, there's training in all aspects of the story that require special skills--such as sword-fighting or horse-riding--but Ron has such a good comedy style that the role didn't require preparation. Bill Hobbs, the sword expert, and I were looking for something different and we came up with the scene where Madmartigan juggles his sword before successfully fighting off a group of Nockmaar soldiers. It was visual proof that Madmartigan could handle a sword with professional elan."

Much of Madmartigan's personality was shaped by the actor, who experimented with line delivery and body language prior to filming. But, Kilmer credits director Howard with giving him a great deal of freedom necessary to find the character. "I never worried about going on to the set or being able to express myself," Kilmer says. "Ron allowed me to create the character of Madmartigan within the bounds of George's story. The story was complete, and because it is such a particular style and George has a particular vision of how to tell the story--both from the producing standpoint and the story point-of-view--it was very easy. What made it easy was the fact that George had laid down all the guidelines and I didn't have to ask many taxing questions. It isn't denigrating to say Willow is a cartoon, but the style of acting in it is particular, so I had to trust that the director wouldn't let me go too far."