Jonathan Kasdan on ‘Willow’: ‘Like having a howitzer in your back pocket’
The Hindu
The creator of the show says having Warwick Davis from the 1988 film reprise his role in the series was a big plus
Jonathan Kasdan is no stranger to the weight of expectations. The 43-year old writer-director worked with his father, Lawrence Kasdan (who co-wrote all those Star Wars films and The Raiders of the Lost Ark) on the divisive Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Kasdan is now attached to another fan favourite, Willow, developing the 1988 dark fantasy starring Warwick Davis as the titular character, into a series.
“It is hard to return to these legacy characters,” Kasdan says over a video call from London. “We have to predict exactly what audience want and give it to them.” There, however, is a big difference between Solo and Willow, Kasdan says.
“In Solo we were recasting this iconic character, an actor, Harrison Ford, who was still alive. We were trying to say you got to believe this young kid who is funny, interesting and cool is your favorite actor and scoundrel ever. That is a big ask of anyone on the planet.”
With Willow, Kasdan says he struck lucky. “I had this incredible gift that Warwick was still going to play Willow. He is even handsomer, cooler and funnier than he had been in 1988. That is like having a howitzer in your back pocket and it empowered me to move this story forward.”
Loving the movie as a child, Kasdan says he desperately wanted to see what happened next. “In the movie the little baby got a kiss on her forehead from Warwick. I thought well, that can’t possibly be the end of their story. He is never going to see her again? That is ridiculous!” Kasdan says he walked out of the theater slightly upset.
When he became involved with Lucasfilm in the mid 2000s, working on Solo, Kasdan he continued to think about Willow. “I believed there was an opportunity to tell a Harry-Potter or Game-of-Thrones style fantasy adventure. A chance to follow the little girl and see what became of her as she dealt with all this power and responsibility, and how Willow was forced to mentor her through what was guaranteed to be a challenging period in her life.”
That very simple idea, stuck, Kasdan says. “Ron Howard (director of Willow) and I got together and were determined to see if we could tell that story. Ron saw it clearly and I wanted to be the one to tell it. From there on we had enormous momentum.”