Willow premiered on Disney+ today, and the show has received a lot of praise from critics so far. Currently, the series is up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 84% critics score. Willow sees the return of the 1988 film’s star, Warwick Davis, but he’s not the only actor to return. Throughout the series, you’ll spot some exciting names such as Joanne Whalley and Kevin Pollak, who played Sorsha and Rool, respectively. In the film, Sorsha was the daughter of the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) but she turned to the side of good after falling in love with Madmartigan (Val Kilmer). Rool was a “Brownie,” a tiny race of the Lesser Faery, who joined Willow on his mission to protect the baby, Elora Danan. ComicBook.com had the chance to catch up with both Whalley and Pollak at the Willow premiere, and they talked about returning to their roles nearly 35 years later.
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“Not really, no,” Whalley admitted when asked if she ever thought she’d be playing Sorsha again. “I didn’t actually, I never even thought about it.” We also asked how she bridged the gap between performances considering all that would have happened to Sorsha over time, and she gave all of the credit to Willow showrunner, Jonathan Kasdan.
“Well, you would think I might have a lot to say about it, but I actually don’t have much to say about it, because the joy of it was, is that Jon Kasdan completely understood the core material, the source material, and just moved it forward. I mean, he really is… I think when I read the scripts, it was such, not a relief exactly, but almost,” Whalley explained. “It didn’t feel strange at all, and I think that’s a testament to his genius.” She continued, “Because it didn’t feel strange. And family dynamics felt real. We’re further along in time still. Sorsha has a whole slew of different problems on her shoulders that she’s trying to pretend she’s not worrying about, and it just felt very natural … What more could you ask for?”
When asked how his appearance in the Willow series came about, Pollak replied, “Well, I get an email after 34 years that I wasn’t expecting. And then to get on a Zoom with Jon Kasdan and have him explain just what the hell he was thinking. And his enthusiasm and love for the movie was pretty amazing and heartwarming. I mean, honestly, this kid was obsessed with this movie.” Pollak then reflected on the original movie: “Just joyful and magical and a high-level caliber and pedigree of filmmakers and George Lucas and Ron Howard. And the special effects team out at Lucas Ranch was real state-of-the-art and their state-of-the-art once again in the series. So that’s my memory. And also when my dad met George Lucas, he said… well, shaking his hand, ‘I really loved ET.’ And to George’s credit, George said, ‘Oh, me too.’”
The first two episodes of Willow are now streaming on Disney+.
