Warwick Davis remembers 'leader of the army' Val Kilmer

Perth Now

22-05-2025

Warwick Davis has praised the late Val Kilmer for "getting [him] through" making 'Willow'.
The 55-year-old actor played the titular role in the 1988 fantasy film and he told how his co-star - who died of pneumonia last month aged 65 - was the "leader of the army" among the cast, helping to raise morale when the shoot got tough.
Warwick told Entertainment Weekly: "He's really the reason I got through the making of the film Willow.
"Because if ever I was tired, exhausted, fed up, cold, he'd say, 'Come on, keep going!' And he'd be the kind of leader of the army, keeping us going. He was a beautiful man."
Warwick is keen to tell as many people as possible his good memories of the 'Top Gun' actor.
He said: "I always like to tell the world how great he was, because I often think the media gave the wrong impression of who he was as a person. He was a very warm, generous, kind-hearted person."
Warwick reprised his role in a 2022 Disney+ series and it had hoped that Val - who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 - would return as knight Madmartigan but he ultimately wasn't able to be involved due to his poor health.
Showrunner Jonathan Kasdan previously told Entertainment Weekly: "We started building out the first season with the intent of having him appear.
"[It wasn't clear we couldn't get him] until pretty late in the process, frankly."
The show was cancelled after a single season.
Warwick also admitted he was disappointed Val couldn't be involved with the series because he had been such a great source of support when they worked on the original 'Willow'.
He told The Guardian newspaper: "Not a day went by while we were filming where I didn't think about him. What a cool guy he was.
"When you're 17 on a huge film like that, playing the title character, there's a lot of pressure, physically and mentally, to do a good job. Val was always there with a joke. Kind of picking my spirits up, saying, 'Come on, you can do this', you know, physically geeing me on.
"I owe him a big debt of gratitude for that."