ERIC WALKER
Caravan of Courage & The Battle for Endor
Mace Towanir


Yesterday I got a chance to chat with Eric Walker, who starred as Mace Towani (the "Original Star Wars Mace") in the Ewok TV movies Caravan of Courage and The Battle for Endor. He's got some interesting stories to share about his experiences on the set!

Eric is also working on a new book called "Growing Up on Skywalker Ranch" and Star Wars fans can visit his website and contribute to the project and in return will have a chance to win some unique collectibles.

How did your acting career begin?
"My acting career started by chance. I was selected along with my football team to appear in a Jack In The Box commercial at the age of 6. At the time I remember thinking wow, they pay you a few hundred dollars and you get to eat some great food. So I asked my dad to let me be an actor for a long time, something like four years before he finally realized that I was serious and I would not stop until he let me do it. My sister went to school with a few kid actors and one of them played the part of Pippi Longstocking. She gave my sister a few agents' phone numbers. The first agent I saw agreed to sign and represent me. Acting did not come easy for me and after a few auditions my agent suggested I take acting classes. She recommended Virgil Frye who is an old character actor and also colleagues of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, and Paul Newman. He is also the father of Soleil Moon Frye who played Punky Brewster.

I started studying with Virgil and after about a year I got my first acting gig, which was a play called Mrs. January and Mr. X. It was directed by Dena Dietrich who is most well known for playing Mother Nature in the famous Margarine commercials. After that I was in a movie of the week with Dyan Cannon and Barry Newman called Having it All. I played her nephew in the Thanksgiving scene. I also appeared with Emmanuel Lewis as his football friend on the television series Webster."

How did you get the role of Mace Towani in the Ewoks TV movies?
"The process happened very fast. At first I was supposed to come in just for a general interview with John Korty (the director) and Thomas G. Smith (the producer). They liked me so much they asked me to read some scenes from the movie. I asked them if I could do a monologue that I had prepared. I was told later that the monologue is what George Lucas first saw and why I got the part. But the director and producer wanted to see me and Aubree Miller (Cindel) together for a screen test. So I was asked later to fly to San Francisco from Los Angeles (which was my first time on an airplane) for a day of shooting. After we finished filming the director and producer excused themselves in their office to look at the footage.

I went to the bathroom and by the time I came out and was walking through the kitchen I was met by the director who shook my hand and said 'Congratulations, you've both got the part.' I continued outside where my father was with Aubree and her parents who already heard the news and was talking to the producer. Later after that is when I had learned that George had chosen both of us based on our prior auditions and my monologue. The producer and director wanted to test us together to see how well we worked with one another and also to make sure Aubree Miller was not afraid of an Ewok because she was so young and only 4 years old at the time. During the screen test that day they brought out an Ewok costume with no one inside attached to a pole."

Had you been a Star Wars fan before you starred in Caravan of Courage?
"I had seen Return of the Jedi about 8 - 10 times the summer before, so yes you can say I was a fan. I did not see A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back until years later because I was very young when they first came out. I saw them at a trilogy screening that I was invited to on the 10th anniversary in 1987."

How did family and friends react to you getting this big role?
"They were very supportive and excited that I had this great opportunity."

You had a much smaller role in the sequel, The Battle for Endor. Why was this, and were you disappointed by it?
"Of course I was disappointed. At first I was told I was not in it at all, and that the whole family had been killed except Cindel. You see at the time George's daughter Amanda Lucas thought of Cindel as her little hero. They were about the same age. The directors Jim and Ken Wheat took me aside and in a conversation it was brought up by one of them that if Amanda had been a teen it might have been different and a Mace movie. Either way after all this time I have accepted it as just one of those things beyond my control. The only satisfaction I got was I kicked some ass in the second one and took out a couple Marauders in the process.

I think it was a big mistake to just kill us off. Why couldn't George just come up with a reason for us not to be there like we were on a mission to get the final part to fix our star cruiser and we left Cindel with the Ewoks? Then have the Marauders attack them and have the same story continue with us coming back at the end. It was really lame to have a little girl on such an adventure. But at least if they did it, they did not have to kill the entire family. Because of that the movie had to have a disclaimer about violence not being suitable for young children, yet the star was only 5 years old?

I will say Aubree did a great job and I am proud of my little sister. But the movie bombed and got terrible ratings and some bad reviews because of it. They spent more money on it so the effects look better but beside that it just was not believable. It is definitely not the family movie that Caravan of Courage was."

What was it like to work with the actors who played the Ewoks? Have you kept in touch with any of them?
"The actors who played the Ewoks were great people. Little people, which is the proper way to address them, are some of the most amazing, funny, and diverse people you'll ever meet. I have kept in touch with a few of them like my friend Warwick Davis, Dan Frishman (Deej), and Kevin Thompson (Chukha-Trok)."

What is your opinion of George Lucas? What do you remember about your time around him on the set of the Ewoks TV movies?
"I think George Lucas is a brilliant man. He is an innovator and a genius. He would come to the set about once a week and every time he was around everything seemed to speed up. He also directed the one week re-shoot and pick-up shots because John Korty the original director had a prior commitment. Most people think he did not direct until the Prequels. Not so, he directed a lot of the first Ewok movie. The second movie he had little to do with because he was very busy dealing with Indiana Jones and Captain Eo."

Have you been keeping up with Star Wars? What is your opinion of the Prequels?
"Sure I have, as have the rest of the world. LOL. At first I was extremely disappointed in them like the rest of Star Wars fans. Especially in Episode I and less in Episode II. But by the third one it started to look like a Star Wars movie and less like a movie that was made to make a bunch of new toys. Now years later even Episode I and II start to grow on you and you enjoy them more. I have had Star Wars fans tell me the Ewok movies are better than the Prequels."

Do you ever make it to Star Wars conventions? "I have been to a few conventions here in the United States, but when I went overseas I became surprised at how much bigger the fan base was for the Ewok movies. Thinking about it, it does make sense, since they were movies in the theatre there and billed as part of Star Wars. The Ewok movies were much better in the theater than on television, so I guess I should not have been surprised."

Tell us a little bit about the book you're working on and how Star Wars fans can help make it happen.
"My book is called 'Growing Up on Skywalker Ranch.' I have been wanting to write a book about my adventures in the Star Wars universe for some time. I have a lot I can share with Star Wars fans and some of it might be stuff they did not even know about. I was there at the height of Star Wars and only a year after 'Jedi'. For instance, they were just starting to build Skywalker Ranch at the time. I also heard people talk a lot about things that went on and were currently going on in the Star Wars universe, Lucasfilm, ILM, and even George Lucas himself.

I was talking about the book in Febuary on the forcecast.net show and I got a lot of emails from fans all over the world saying it sounded like a great idea and they could not wait until I wrote it. So I came up with a way to get it not only done but a way to let Star Wars fans actually become a part of it.

So, I have enlisted Kickstarter.com where every Star Wars fan can go and pledge any amount to help make this happen. There are a lot of collectible items that I am offering for certain pledge amounts. They range from getting a first copy of the book before its release to a one of a kind DVD of 'The Making of the Ewok Movie' that was shot behind the scenes while we were making the movies. You can also get your name printed in the book as a backer under special thanks. For those wanting to get some of the collectibles this may be your only chance to get them. You can go to my official website, www.ericwalker.net and there is a link that will take you directly to the Kickstarter project. So go there now and become a part of it before it ends soon and you lose out on the one of a kind collectibles from the movies."

Do you think Star Wars fans who haven't yet seen the Ewoks TV movies should check them out? Why are they an important part of the Star Wars universe?
"Every Star Wars fan needs to see them. The first one is a good family movie about courage, love, and family being the most powerful forces in the universe. Also, they are a part of Star Wars and they are not horrible like the Holiday Special. They were just on limited release on DVD, and this time George actually named the release Star Wars Ewok Adventures releasing them both as a double set. That should put to rest if they are a part of Star Wars and canon."

What has been the best part of your Star Wars experience?
"By far it is my experience with Star Wars fans. The stories that they share with me about what Mace Towani meant to them and how as kids they would pretend they were Mace and have their sister pretend they were Cindel is heartwarming. I am touched and honored to think that in some way I helped them escaped from this world and touched their lives in a positive way. I hope in the future my music and my own stories continue to entertain the world.

For anyone who wishes to check out my music, my website is ericwalkermusic.com. I wrote a tribute song to Star Wars called 'Return to Endor.' It is available on CD from my site or also on iTunes by searching 'Eric Walker Tangier Dream.'

Thank you, Echo Base News from Star Wars' First Mace. The O.M. (Original Mace)."


Interview by David Delgado.