“Luck is everything,” Alfred Hitchcock once said. And that has never been truer if you look at the career of English actor Warwick Davis — not least because at three feet and six inches tall, the 43-year-old is hardly your typical movie star.
Yet, in a career now spanning more than 30 years, Davis has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters from ‘Harry Potter’ to the ‘Leprechaun’ and ‘Ewok’ film series. And all because when he was 11, his grandmother decided to make one phone call.
“Of course, I consider myself incredibly lucky. If she hadn’t made that call, I’m not sure if I will be here today, doing what I do, travelling to amazing places like Dubai,” he says.
Davis is in town to attend and meet fans at the Middle East Film & Comic Con (MEFCC) that kicks off this Friday. The two-day event celebrating everything pop culture, now in its second year, will take place at the Dubai International Marine Club, Mina Seyahi.
“But of course, there’s also a lot of hard work behind it. And talent,” he adds. “I don’t think I will be here so long if I didn’t have talent. But I am very happy to have been given the opportunity to do what I do.”
Casting in Star Wars
The phone call he refers to is, of course, the call his grandma made to the casting directors of 1983 blockbuster ‘Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’, in which Davis plays Ewok Wicket W. Warrick. The film, and his character, were such a hit it spawned many more Ewok films. Favoured by Star Wars creator George Lucas, Davis also starred in the 1988 Lucas-written fantasy film ‘Willow’, a role he is still often remembered for. That, and the massively successful horror series ‘Leprechaun’ and his role as Charms Master Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter movies.
Despite being a staple of mostly sci-fi and fantasy films, Davis says he is not worried about being typecast. And neither does he think it’s always because of his size.
“I’ve never really felt that I was cast just because of my height,” says the actor who suffers from a rare disorder of bone growth. “I love acting and I like to think that I am an actor first and foremost, who just happens to be short. The rest of the time, I just focus on my job and giving my best shot.
“And I love doing fantasy films. They’ve been a staple of my career and I will never turn my back on them. Science fiction gives you so much more scope to be imaginative and creative. And I’m grateful to have been a part of this genre.”
Davis, who is in town with his wife and two children, took time off on Tuesday to visit At The Top, the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa.
No dream is big in Dubai
“Dubai is quite a spectacle, it’s like being in a science fiction film,” he laughs. “It seems that no dream is too big here and that it can be achieved.”
After he’s done meeting fans at the MEFCC, he says he wants to check out the desert and the Creek and learn a bit of history.
Davis, who recently appeared in the fairytale retelling ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’, has also authored a book ‘Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life and Career of Warwick Davis’ and says events like the MEFCC give him the rare chance to interact with people who’ve enjoyed and appreciated his work over the years.
“When you are an actor, you rarely get a chance to intimately connect with your audience. And events like this give us an opportunity to meet people. They can tell me what they enjoyed about my work, what they didn’t enjoy and maybe have some photographs taken.”
A decade from now, he hopes to be still employed, he jokes.
“Hopefully, I’ll still be acting,” he says. “I appreciate all the work I have been given over the years and I am not ashamed of anything I have done. I never take things for granted.”
