MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Warwick Davis, and I’m currently working on Pocket Warwick, a very different game for leading smartphone platforms in which I’m the star. I’m directing the project, and making it with Matmi, and it has been a truly
fantastic experience.
What other video games have you worked on previously?
There was the Harry Potter games, but that was much more of a case of turning up and giving them my performance. Still, I really enjoyed that as an actor, and it was a great project to be involved in.
Pocket Warwick, though, is the first game I’ve ever been involved with like this, as a director, realising how complex the games development process is. It’s taught me to really respect what games developers do.
What was the very first video game you ever played?
I think it was Pong for me, and then later all sorts on the Atari 2600. I’ve always loved my gadgets and video games.
What was the most recent video game you ever played?
That’s really hard. I play a lot on my phone, so I can’t recall exactly the last one I played. I love a lot of the board games stuff going on on phones right now, and the way they’ve used the iPhone there; things like Scrabble. But that wasn’t the last thing I played. It might have been Reckless Racing or Reckless Getaway.
How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?
Quite a lot really. Maybe even five hours a week. It all adds up, playing mobile games in small chunks.
What is your favourite game ever, and for what reason?
That really is difficult. There’s been so many. I did used to love the Amiga back in the 1990s, and I’d get everything the Bitmap Brothers would do. So I’d have to say something like The Chaos Engine, which I really love, or there’s Speedball. And, of course, there’s Pocket Warwick.
What encourages you about the games industry from what you’ve seen?
There’s the creativity, and the ability to engage the audience so completely. And it’s a huge opportunity for actors. Us actors can spend a lot of time out of work, and games offer a great stage. Actors who don’t involve themselves in video games are missing a trick, they really are.
What’s your favourite film you’ve ever worked on?
This I get asked a lot, and it never gets any easier to answer. Do I say Star Wars, which gave me my career? That’s the reason I’m sat here today talking about Pocket Warwick. Or there’s Willow, which was a wonderful experience.
And I’ve done lots of films nobody ever talks about. For example, there’s The White Pony, a really good children’s film which was just a really nice thing to be part of. I played a nice Leprechaun in that movie, but everybody remembers my evil Leprechaun in the Leprechaun series of movies. I did really enjoy doing the Leprechaun films too. They’re all favourites in a way.
What hobbies and interests do you have outside of films and video games?
I really don’t have any time for anything else. My work is my passion, and I’m lucky there. There really is nothing. Of course, I love films, and they are a big part of my life. I just don’t have any hobbies other than work. That’s just how it is.
