No matter what you feel about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Mark Hamill performed one of his best roles to date. The newer approach to Luke was controversial, but we saw the actor hit new heights. His performance actually inspired another actor for his latest project.
Warwick Davis recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for an interview about Willow. The publication asked him if he was inspired by seeing his fellow Star Wars collaborators revisit legacy characters. His answer could surprise people, as he says he turned to Hamill’s grizzled and gruff version of Luke Skywalker in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi.
“The one thing I took note of in particular was Mark Hamill returning to Luke Skywalker [in Star Wars: The Last Jedi] and how he went about the approach for that,” Davis tells THR. “I thought he was really interesting, and it wasn’t the expected approach, certainly. He came at it from quite a different angle, and I also did the same. I noticed that Mark didn’t try to play the character younger. He just leaned into his more mature years, and that’s really what I did as Willow.”
He adds, “I’m 52 now. The first time I played the character, I was only 17. So I thought, ‘Well, let’s not deny the fact that you’re 52. Let’s use that to make this character more interesting, more grounded, and more well-rounded as well.’ Within this series, the world that we find Willow in is a different one than we last saw him in. He’s quite troubled. He’s had a lot of dark experiences in his own life, so he has to take all that on. And as an actor, I have to add all of that knowledge into the character’s situation and use that to reflect out in my performance.”
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Playing a character that you started in your youth and later played as an adult is seemingly no easy task. Do you go back to what fans remember or mature the character and add new layers? Whatever Davis did with Willow as worked as the first two episodes of the Disney+ sequel series have been met with rave reviews.
An epic period fantasy series with a modern sensibility set in an enchanted land of breathtaking beauty, “Willow” began with an aspiring magician from a Nelwyn village and an infant girl destined to unite the realms, who together helped destroy an evil queen and banish the forces of darkness. Now, in a magical world where brownies, sorcerers, trolls, and other mystical creatures flourish, the adventure continues, as an unlikely group of heroes set off on a dangerous quest to places far beyond their home, where they must face their inner demons and come together to save their world.
Willow features the returning Warwick Davis and Joanne Whalley, along with Ruby Cruz, Erin Kellyman, Ellie Bamber, Tony Revolori, Amer Chadha-Patel, Dempsey Bryk, Talisa Garcia, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers and Ralph Ineson.
Willow airs on Disney+, with new episodes arriving on Wednesdays.
