The pun is excuseable and, to be honest, trying to dodge puns when talking to Davis is like trying to avoid double entrendres when talking to a woman on a fruit stall to a vicar played by Sid James.

    Davis, 28, began Willow Productions four years ago with fellow short actor Pete Borroughs. At that time, agencies would normally have up to ten diminutive thesps on their books. There was a feeling among them that they were being short-changed (see what we mean?) by some agencies who looked on them as little more than freaks.

    Willow Management has 80 actors under five foot on it's books and will not take jobs that it feels will belittle them. The name comes from the Ron Howard film in which davis played the title role. He feels the film treated short actors with the respect they deserve.

    "It didn't matter that Willow was small. It was the strength of the character that pulled him through," he remembers.

    Willow Management actors have appeared in films as the Star Wars trilogy, Time Bandits, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and Muppet Treasure Island. There's a lot of sword and sorcery stuff, but the Willow philosophy is not adverse to that, although Davis is quick to point out that he recently auditioned for a gangster role in which height is unimportant, and that many of the actors on Willow's books do radio work.

    As far as he knows, his is the only agency of it's kind in the world. At the moment the team's attention is turned towards the Star Wars prequels. After all, Davis got his first break in the movie business aged 11 playing Wicket, an Ewok, in Return Of The Jedi.

    "I started in that little movie and moved up from there," he laughs.

by JEREMY AUSTIN

from the July 1997 issue of EMPIRE Copyright 1997 EMAP METRO