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improvisation from acting school, added some of our family’s pet dog’s behavior, and my Ewok character emerged to explore the Moon of Endor.
     
    In one scene the Ewoks encounter R2-D2 and C-3PO and decide that the golden robot is a god. b I thought that R2-D2 would look so extraordinary to a young Ewok, who had after all seen nothing but plants and trees his whole young life, that he would want to check the robot out, so I wandered over and started poking and peering at him (I always assumed R2 was a he).
     
    The older actors, meanwhile, would play by the rules; they would do what they were told, which was much better for such a complicated film. These days it rarely happens; an actor might approach a director with an idea and if they’re lucky they’ll get the chance to rehearse it, but out of politeness rather than any urge to actually put it on film.
     
    The advantage I had was that I just did it “live,” so to speak, so it was captured on film and they could see straight away that it worked. This moment caught director Richard Marquand’s eye and he built a whole scene around me investigating R2-D2.
     
    I was on my way.
     
a There actually was a secret passage from the cupboard under the stairs to the nearby fifteenth-century church.
     
b Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO, likes to be treated as a god in real life. I once did a Star Wars show at Disney with Anthony where he got the whole audience to bow down to him as if they were Ewoks. He was also wearing a metallic-gold jacket; this would have been like me going on wearing a fur coat.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Just Me and Princess Leia
     

     
    If you wrote me a fan letter in 1983, this is what you would have received – had you included a self-addressed envelope.
     
     
    Chillin’ between takes.
     
     
    A heads-off moment with my sister, Kim.
     
     
    With weightlifting champ Dave Prowse, aka Darth Vader.
     
     
    The ever-ready Ewok – I’d roller-skate my way round Elstree in between filming; I saw many strange and wonderful things as a result.
     
     
    Shooting Return of the Ewok at Chelsea Football Club. “When the ball lands here, you grab it!”
     
     
    Filming Return of the Ewok . He was a real cabbie who couldn’t act.
     
     
    Princess Leia introduces me to her fellow rebels.
     
    Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.
     
     
    Just me and Princess Leia – I was asked to perform this scene after fellow Ewok actor Kenny Baker fell ill. The bright spot to the left is the result of a Biker Scout missing us with his blaster.
     
    Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.
     
     
    At the wrap party – I managed to miss most of it by falling asleep. Thanks for not waking me, Carrie!
     
     
    Carrie Fisher and I getting cozy on Jabba the Hutt’s tail.
     
    Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.
     
     
    A few days later, David Tomblin took me to one side and said, “How would you like a speaking role in your own Ewok adventure, Warwick?”
     
    Once he’d got his hearing back, David continued.
     
    “Well, I’ve got an idea for a short featurette called Return of the Ewok which we might use to promote Jedi . George likes the idea and has given me permission to use the entire set and cast, whatever I want. And I want you to star.”
     
    The resulting twenty-three-minute film was never finished or officially released and has since become part of Star Wars folklore; the original 16mm print was lost and only six VHS copies still exist. I have one of them, which I’ve since converted to DVD. It has occasionally been shown at conventions and it’s a film Star Wars fans always talk about.
     
    I still have the original script and looking at it now I can see it was completely bonkers – in a good way. David told me that these crazy ideas had come to him in the middle of the night and he’d scribbled them down in a frenzy until the whole concept was complete.
     
    The plot (such as it is) is that I (as Warwick, in human form) have left home to seek my fortune. After a stint as a