Major spoilers follow for Willow’s Disney Plus series.
willow Actress Ellie Bamber has spoken about the “pressures” of appearing as a vitally important character with a big secret in her Disney Plus Fantasy series.
Bamber – who begins the series playing Dove the kitchen maid – is finally revealed by Willow (Warwick Davis) as the adult version of Elora Danan, the baby found by the river in the original 1988 film that sparks her quest to return to the Daikini family. .
Bamber spoke EXCLUSIVELY to TechRadar about whether she knew her character’s secret when she first auditioned for the role, “I had a clue,” Bamber says. “There was a lot of secrecy around the first round of auditions, and then she spoke to John.” [Jonathan Kasdan, who developed the story] And it became clearer. He said: “Something happens and there is a revelation.” My agent had a strange suspicion that maybe it was for child’s play, and then I found out I was going to be child’s play, so of course I was very excited about the possibility.
“It was really hard to keep it from friends and family. I went through some mistakes!”
In the film, the evil Queen Bavmorda says the marks on Elora Danan’s arm prove she will try to overthrow her and demands that she be killed. However, in the sequel series, we find out that after Willow gave the baby to Madmartigan (Val Kilmer, sadly not part of the new production) and Buffmorda’s warrior daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley), they hid her with a new family and gave her a different identity to keep her safe from prying eyes. .
Given the fact that the film is a cult classic with a legacy spanning more than three decades, Bamber — who recently appeared in The Serpent and The Trial of Christine Keeler — says she felt the weight of expectations weigh on her.
“There was real pressure,” she admits. “I think just going on the set and seeing the size of it and the costumes and seeing that everybody was at the top of their game was something very daunting. I was like, ‘Wow, here I am among the best creatives in the industry and I also have to be on top of my game as well.’” But I often turn anxiety into excitement because they’re so closely related, so I just tried to get really excited about it. “
The 10-part TV show sees grown-up Elora Danan reunite with Willow, who she has to teach her about her wizard powers as they go on their own quest to try to rescue the kidnapped Prince Eric (Dempsey Brick). Bamber says some of her favorite scenes to shoot in the entire series were with the series’ new star. “The scenes where I learn magic with Warwick (Willow) were so much fun to shoot,” she adds. “We really had to improvise and build that relationship.”
For more Willow-based content, check out Our in-depth conversation with the show’s cast For discovering how to “align everything” before serial production, action sequence rehearsals, and more. Instead, check the The best Disney Plus shows And the best Disney Plus movies to stream right now.
Willow is now streaming on Disney Plus.
