Willow's Amar Chadha-Patel Never Wanted To Step On Val Kilmer's Toes With His Madmartigan-Like Character [Exclusive]
Disney will soon unleash its latest IP redo as Warwick Davis' Willow Ufgood returns to the spotlight after more than 30 years. The plucky "Nelwyn" had a good go at winning the hearts of the movie-going public back in 1988 but couldn't quite hit the level of popularity, or box office returns, that creator George Lucas and director Ron Howard were hoping for. And so, aside from a trilogy of sequel novels in the '90s, the character of Willow was left untouched since his movie debut.
In the interim, "Willow" gained a cult following — a following that included writer/producer Jon Kasdan who took it upon himself to bring Willow back into all our lives with the upcoming Disney+ show. A big fan of the original movie, Kasdan always intended to not only give Davis' Willow a second chance, but also his co-star Val Kilmer, who will figure into the new series in some form. The actor originally portrayed Will Madmartigan, a disgraced swordsman and Willow's fellow adventurer.
Just how much Kilmer will feature remains to be seen but the narrative of "Willow" the series was designed to include Madmartigan while navigating Kilmer's health concerns following his battle with throat cancer. In his stead, Kasdan, who wrote the show, created some new characters, one of which will be played by Christian Slater. Another Madmartigan-esque Willow cohort will be played by British actor Amar Chadha-Patel, who appears in the role of Boorman, a prisoner who provides the muscle Willow and his band of enchanted adventurers requires for their quest "into the unknown."
A 'sword-swinging pain in the ass'
Providing much of the same energy as Kilmer's Madmartigan, the role of Boorman comes with a special kind of pressure. /Film's Bryan Young spoke with Amar Chadha-Patel about the experience of being part of the show in that capacity and whether he was aware of the character's legacy and its importance to the world of "Willow:"
"Oh, I'm thinking about it all the time. Even more so now. Madmartigan's character is such an important part of that film. It's a lot of people's like benchmark for the roguish, sword-swinging pain in the ass. And that was what I knew I was trying to channel."
Kilmer, whose 2021 documentary "Val" gave a surprisingly insightful look inside the actor's struggle following his diagnosis, has played a number of fan-favorite roles over the years. From Doc Holliday in "Tombstone" to Batman himself in "Batman Forever," the actor went on to have an impressive career following his turn in "Willow." Which only added to the pressure of not stepping on the actor's toes when it came time to revive the beloved fantasy.
Luckily, Chadha-Patel trusted Kasdan and his team to do justice to the original film. While channeling some of the roguish energy of Madmartigan, the actor and production team "made it clear that we were trying to do something different" with Boorman, especially considering Chadha-Patel's South Asian heritage and the experiences that came with that. As the "Wheel of Time" star said:
"I was going to be able to bring something new to what Val [Kilmer] did. And I never wanted to step on his toes. So I tried very hard to make Boorman my own."
Deconstructing the rogue
"Willow" the series will base much of its narrative around the disappearance of Madmartigan in an effort to keep Kilmer's character involved. Kasdan told Vanity Fair that he "approached Val the moment there was any momentum around [the show]" simply because he's such an important part of the original tale. As a result, the knight will, according to Kasdan, return "by the end of the season in as meaningful a way as we felt we could, while leaving the door open to continue to build it out."
But that obviously leaves a lot of room for the edginess that Madmartigan brought to the original movie and it seems both Slater and Chadha-Patel are primed to provide it. In Chadha-Patel's case, we could be in for a deeper exploration of the sword-wielding roguish archetype, with the actor telling /Film, "We get to deconstruct that archetype a lot throughout the show," and that he enjoyed "making him fragile toward the end."
In the meantime, I'm eager to see just how Madmartigan features in the series. Kilmer is one of the more fascinating actors of the last few decades, with a real artistic sensibility that strangely seems to be a rarity in much of Hollywood. If "Willow" can utilize some of that energy alongside the newly-developed characters, the show could prove to be a worthy revival. Will Chadha-Patel's distinctly modern "deconstruction" of the Madmartigan archetype work well alongside the obvious nostalgia that drives much of the new show (a lot of the time Kasdan used "Ghostbusters II" as a reference point)? We'll all have to watch and see for ourselves when the show launches on November 30, 2022.