The first season of Willow featured some returning cast members from the original 1988 film in addition to a lineup of exciting fresh faces. In addition to the young cast of newcomers, Hollywood staple Christian Slater also appeared in an episode as Allagash, a character who fought alongside Madmartigen (Val Kilmer) in the Battle of Land’s End. Slater has talked a lot about his time on the Disney+ series and even compared it to some of his past projects. While it’s clear Slater had fun joining the fantasy series, he did suffer a minor injury on set. During a recent interview with Lucasfilm.com, Slater revealed he got a black eye while filming his fight scene.
“Yes, yes, that did happen,” Slater shared with a laugh. While Slater does tussle with Amar Chadha-Patel’s Thraxus Boorman in the episode, the actor didn’t want to reveal if it was Chadha-Patel that gave him the black eye. “I’m afraid to confirm or deny. I don’t want to get anybody in trouble, but you know, look, it was a very physical, active [production]. He and I were going at it. We were having a good time! As goofy as some of the fight was, there were still some moments that were pretty hairy. So next thing you know, I was in the make-up trailer – we were all covered in dirt and everything and looking pretty filthy – and I just kept wiping my eye going, ‘What? This dirt won’t come off!’”
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Did Christian Slater Speak To Val Kilmer About Joining Willow?
Last year, Val Kilmer reprised his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in Top Gun: Maverick but he was unable to do the same for Disney+’s Willow series. The actor played Madmartigen in the film, but after struggling with his health, filming the series during COVID was too risky and they ended up having to write the actor out of the show. During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Slater spoke about reaching out to Kilmer after taking the role. The duo originally met while making True Romance and remained friends.
“I did, yeah,” Slater said when asked if he talked to Kilmer about Willow. “He’s obviously in a very difficult situation, but I just expressed my love. And I certainly let him know that the spirit of Madmartigan was going to be running all the way through these eight episodes. It was just amazing to be on set and get the vibe and the sense of how appreciated and loved he is as an actor. So he was such a part of this, even though he wasn’t physically able to be there.”
Slater said of joining the series, “I was a huge fan of the movie. I fell in love with Val Kilmer and his energy and what he brought to the movie was just fantastic. Warwick [Davis] and I are also friends. We’ve crossed paths a lot in our history. We did a production of Spamalot at the Hollywood Bowl about five years ago and we had a total blast together. So when I heard about a Willow series, I thought, ‘Oh, this is interesting. This is unexpected. What a fun thing to update and reintroduce.’ And when Jon [Kasdan] started to talk to me about the character and what he wanted to do, it just felt like a nice fit.”
The first season of Willow is streaming on Disney+.
