I’m Warwick Davis. Ewok, Hogwarts Professor, Leprechaun, gameshow host…AMA!

How did you get out of Simon's sink?

Simple, with Wingardium Leviosa!

How hard was it not to laugh during the Liam Neeson episode of "Life's too short"?

Impossible, because I did laugh. 50% of the outtakes from the wholes series were made up of laughing during that scene. If it wasn’t me laughing it would be Ricky, Stephen, or Liam.

Hi Warwick,

Thanks for doing another AMA! I have a few questions.

Would you do another Season of “Idiot Abroad” with Karl and if so where would you want to travel?

Also what do you think was the funniest thing that happened on your travels with Karl?

Lastly – did you have fun during your appearance on Top Gear? And do you still drive an automatic or do you like manual now?

Thanks Warwick!

Yes, absolutely. If the opportunity came up I’d be there tomorrow. I’d love to do more of that series. I enjoyed going to places and experiencing things that I would never normally do on a holiday. It was actually quite entertaining hanging out with the cast. I’d like to go down to New Zealand again, actually. New Zealand would be the place I’d love to go first and then America.

As for Karl, there are so many funny experiences, he said plenty of funny things. A lot of them never get in the program because they’re said when we're traveling to the next country. The funniest and most absurd moment was probably when Karl said “Do you have knees?” I was always surprised to learn that Karl really didn’t know anything about me. Like whenever I’d mention I’d been in Harry Potter or Star Wars, he was genuinely shocked and surprised, where I kind of know everything there is to know about Karl from having listened to his program.

I learned to drive a manual I used to have when I was 17, but I do prefer an automatic now because it’s simpler. But driving in Top Gear was the most fun I’ve ever had in a car, and I was amazed at how quickly you can drive a very low-powered production car with Pringles tubes for pedals.

What movie was the most fun to work on, and why was it Leprechaun: Back 2 the Hood?

Although I had a great time making all the Leprechaun movies, I think my experience as an 11 year old on Return of the Jedi takes it, because being a Star Wars fan, I was literally living out my dream with my on screen heros.

I know you've spoken out against taller actors being shrunk to play the roles of short characters. How would you feel about the opposite happening -- actors with dwarfism being digitally altered to play taller roles? If the latter was a common practice, would you be more accepting of the former?

I believe that actors should play their type. A short actor should be cast as a short actor. A disabled actor should be cast to play a disabled character.

Hi Warwick,
what is something that's easier because of your height that people don't realise?

That’s a good question. I was the chin up champion at my school because I have good upper body strength and little weight. I could do a lot more than you could. That, and air travel. I dont need the leg room.

Hi Warwick. You worked with my mother's goat in Willow, one of my favourite films!

Mum wanted me to say "hello"! Can I say you said hello back? :D

You can, yes, hello to your mom and the goat. And how is the goat? That goat is probably dead.

Any opinion on Professor Flitwick's extreme makeover over the course of the HP movies? Did you approve of the new look?

I really liked the look of Professor Flitwick in the first few movies. He was really quite endearing. The new look was a more spritely Flitwick that appeared in film three onward, and allowed me more scope and range as far as my performance went.

I feel really honored to have been involved in all eight movies as more than one character. It was a dream come true to play one character in one film, let alone several characters in all. I would just thank the amazing makeup team that allowed me to do that by transforming the way I looked.

Did you have any cool encounters with David Bowie filming Labyrinth?

Here is a little side note. Today is the 28th anniversary of the Labyrinth opening in in the US. So, i haven't seen David Bowie since we filmed the Labyrinth, but when working with him, he was a very down to earth, but talented guy.

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How very clever of you, for subtly reminding me that I need to eat lunch.

Warwick, I’ve been a huge fan of yours for years! My questions: Which one of the many characters you played in Star Wars: Episode 1 was your favorite? And the one I’m sure everyone will ask, have you gotten a call about Episode VII??

I think it was the character that you see watching the pod race, which George named Weazel, because I quite like characters who are more mysterious, who you don’t know that much about, and he’s quite intriguing because you don’t know much about him other than he likes to gamble on pod races. I think he’s my favourite. Although, I played Yoda for one scene as well.

Who is your favorite Yogscast member Warwick?

Simon Lane. Because he makes me laugh basically.

Do you and Karl Pilkington still keep in touch? It was very rewarding to see your friendship bloom towards the end of An Idiot Abroad after the little bits of squabbling.

Yes, we do keep in touch. I saw Karl about 3 weeks ago when he was appearing on a TV show in the UK to promote The Moaning of Life. He told he he was doing some grouting.

Do you have a funny experience on the set of Harry Potter that you can share with us?

Also, what was it like wearing the goblin costume? How long did the prosthetics take to put on?

I think it was the time that Michael Gambon conspired to make Daniel laugh by making an electronic fart machine under a bag, and he had a little button in his hand that triggered the sound from this little fart machine, and a fart sound rang out through the Great Hall, causing Daniel to laugh along with the other students.

The scenes in the great hall all look very magical, but you need to bear in mind that the great feast may well have been on the table for about 3 days, so it was inedible and smelled terrible. That said, creating those scenes, especially the ones that were set at Christmastime was really special.

Who inspired you to be an actor?

Do you play any video games?

What actors/directors would you love to work with one day?

Well, nobody inspired me to be an actor. I became an actor through the fact that my grandmother heard a radio commercial asking for short people to be in Star Wars. Since then my inspiration has come from John Candy, Steve Coogan, and Will Ferrell.

As for video games, when I have time, yes, my favourite type of games are simulation games, like driving, that sort of thing. But my son Harrison always beats me on that sort of thing. We play a lot of those war games, particularly Call of Duty. He kicks my ass.

Hey Warwick,

Any stories of mischief when in costume as Wicket?

Thanks!

All the Ewoks ganged up on the crew when they were in line for lunch on location in the Redwood Forest. We ambushed them from moving vehicles with water bombs. There were about 30-40 Ewoks in various different Jeeps and vehicles that we’d managed to commandeer, and the rest of the crew was lining up for lunch outside, under a canopy tent, and we all drove past and it was a drive by water bombing basically. Trying to avoid the man in the plaid shirt. He did get hit, but I don’t think he made out who threw it.

Wow, this is great! Thank you so much for your wide body of work, I love the diversity of your work from Willow to your work on An Idiot Abroad, I love it all!

Any good behind the scenes stories from any of your work that you would like to share?

Let me think. It’s funny when you try and then can’t think of anything. I mean, its kinda out there a bit, but the characteristics of Wicket in Return of the Jedi were modeled on my pet dog who used to tilt his head from side to side when he heard a strange sound. I felt this would work quite well for the character. Also, the food that Princess Leia gives Wicket by the log was actually one of those healthy but horrible tasting rice cakes. And one final snippet, Wicket’s tongue is not animatronic, its actually my own tongue.

when you hear him speak, is that you as well? Also, Growing up I LOVED Willow. It wasnt until I was showing it to my fiance a couple years ago that I found out you were only 18!!! You played an amazing role for such a young age. Look forward to all you future work! thanks for the great memories :)

Wicket’s voice was actually recorded by a Native American, and I was actually only 17, if that makes me even more amazing.

Hi Warwick! Firstly, I'd like to say that I absolutely love your work!

I have a few questions...

What were your first impressions of Karl and Stephen? And how did you first meet Ricky? Cheers!

My first impression of Stephen is that he’s tall. Karl, when I first met him, it was like meeting a legend really. When you meet the man it’s a great experience, but that wears off very quickly when you get to know him. When I met Ricky, he phoned me at home to pitch me the idea of doing an episode of Extras. And when I said “Who is this?” he started laughing, and I knew it must be him, because no one laughs quite like him, do they?

Hi Warwick! Can we expect another collaboration with Ricky Gervais in the future? Perhaps another season of Life's Too Short?

Ricky and I haven't got any plans to collaborate at the moment, but I was really pleased with the Life’s Too Short special with Val Kilmer. I think it would be great to do another such special in a year or two and I think that the hour long format works really well. I’d certainly be very interested to see what Warwick was up to and whether or not his career was going in a more positive direction.

What's your favourite breakfast cereal?

Umm, it's porridge and that's the name of my character in Doctor Who.

First off, I just want to say Willow has always been one of my favorite movies, if not my absolute favorite. I'm sure I wore out my VHS tape of it when I was a kid, and I was ecstatic when it came out on Blu-Ray. I still watch Willow regularly and I never get tired of it.

Do you feel the film industry has become more accomodating for little people in larger, less stereotypical film roles? Did you feel you had a lot to overcome to get where you are today?

Thank you for doing this AMA!!

I think that attitude and opportunity for short actors are becoming more diverse and INTERESTING. But there is still a long way to go. I would like to see short actors cast in roles that make no reference to their height.

Hearing that your VHS was worn out, I’ve heard that before and it’s incredible. I think the film is so enduring because it has many interesting characters, and it’s a very well realized world and the themes of good vs evil are universal. It’s a great example of a film from that era and one which people are excited to share with their offspring. It’s a generational film.

How hard was it being a dwarf actor at first, was it difficult to get many parts?

Thanks a lot for doing this

Obviously, the roles for me as a short actor are more limited than for an average size actor. But, I’ve been very conscious in my career to focus on my performance skills, so that when roles do come up, I’m well positioned to audition for them and hopefully get them.

You've already been in two huge series. If you could be in any other movie series, what would it be and why?

Um. I mean when you say movie series, is that more than one? Can two movies be a series? I think Anchorman, because I think Will Ferrell is fantastic and I love the style and humor in that film I just really love the style of humor the idea that everybody saying ridiculous things but nobody questions how it is, which is pretty unique. These guys-- kind of all the characters seem to accept everything everyone else says as being normal.

How long would you have to wear the ewok costumes on set on an average day? Were they overbearingly warm to wear?

As an 11 year old I was only allowed to work 4 hours and would spend most of that time in at least half of the costume. The Ewok head was only put on for an actual take, and removed in between. So basically we would sit around and sort of sit in the costume between scenes and take the head off between takes.

Would you ever consider a role in Game of Thrones?

Yeah, I would like to. I don’t tend to watch series like that because it’s takes a lot of time to follow through. So I wouldn’t be able to keep up with that, but I hear great things about that series. I’d love to do it, to work on a show with such high standards of writing and filmmaking would be a delight.

Hi Warwick! I'm a big admirer of your work. Willow was one of my favourite movies as a kid.

So tell us, honestly, is Karl Pilkington really that stupid?

Ha, I love that. Karl isn’t stupid, he just sees the world differently and comments on it in the way that I think we’d all like to, except that we filter those thoughts and comments.

Hi Warwick, got a favourite book?

Guinness Book of Records and my autobiography. Guinness because it’s fat and my autobiography, because it’s about me. It was a challenge to write, but a fun one, because I was able to recall things I thought I’d forgotten by listening to music from my childhood and speaking to people who had been an influence in my life and career. I recommend everyone should take a daily diary to fully appreciate their lives and their achievements.

Hi Warwick!

Do you have any favourite memories from your time working on the Leprechaun films?

Also, any chance we will spot you in the upcoming Star Wars films? A cheeky cameo perhaps?

I think probably my favourite memory is sitting in the middle of the street in south central LA, eating chinese food out of a carton, with the sound of gunfire emanating from the local neighborhood. It was one of the most surreal situations I’ve ever been in. And also, another favourite memory would be working with Gabe Bartalos who was the creator and makeup artist for all the Leprechaun films.

Hey Warwick, What was your favorite film to work on? And why? Thanks!

Sometimes I’ll have a great experience on a film because the script is fantastic, other times the experience is good because of the cast and crew. But I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed each and every film I’ve ever appeared in.

There’s a great script for a film that’s not out yet called Get Santa, that is an example of a great script.

As for a great cast and crew - that would be Harry Potter. You become very close with all of them because they all mostly worked on all of the movies. I worked on the Harry Potter series for 11 years.

Best accomplishment?

Maintaining a career as an actor for 33 years. The business is so full of ups and and downs, and you never really know where your next paycheck is coming from. So you have to really love the performing to stick with it and stick through the times when there isn’t any work. It’s a very difficult, demanding business, and it’s not all red carpets and champagne.

Hi Warwick, What was your best memory working from in Star Wars movies? What was your first impressions and lasting ones of George Lucas?

Meeting my on-screen heros. I didn’t see them for the actors they were, I only saw them as their characters, and being able to chat with them and getting to know them was thrilling for me as an 11 year old Star Wars fan.

I was in awe of George Lucas, but I have to call him a friend, someone who has given me a career as an actor and so many wonderful opportunities.

Thanks for doing this AMA! I love your work!

What made you want to become an actor and was it difficult to get started in the business?

I didn’t really want to become an actor, I just got into it by chance. It is difficult for most actors, but you need a lucky break, and mine came in the shape of my Grandma hearing a radio announcement to be in Star Wars. You need to have luck, talent, and tenacity.