TR Review: Size Matters Not by Warwick Davis

?If I had to sum up Warwick Davis’ autobiography Size Matters Not in a single word, it would be this: delightful.

Imagine you had the chance to sit down one-on-one with the 3′-6″ man behind Wicket the Ewok, Willow, Leprechaun, and more. Warwick Davis proceeds to discuss his entire life: his troubled birth, how his diminutive size won him his role in Return of the Jedi at the age of 11, and how his film career began almost without him realizing it. He tells you about how he met his wife, how he was nearly bankrupt even after Willow came out, the tragedies he overcame to start his own family, and more — but, knowing you’re a nerd, he also tells you what it was like to film each of his movies, how Val Kilmer used to joke around with him, why he accepted all those Leprechaun films, and how he fell into with Ricky Gervais to make the upcoming series Life’s Too Short.

Basically, Size Matters Not is like listening to Warwick Davis personally tell you his life story, and it is totally fun and completely entertaining. Is it the most piercing personal insight? No, but he tells you a ton of great anecdotes about making his movies. Is Davis a master of prose? No, but that actually makes the book more endearingly personal. Is Davis incredibly nice, entirely grateful for his life and does he refuse to say a negative word about almost anybody? Indeed. Does he make a ton of “small”/”short” puns throughout the book? Yes, and they’re outstanding. Oh! And does Davis include a ton of photos, both of his family and behind-the-scenes of his movies, and including one of him in the Leprechaun get-up, eating Chinese food in the middle of the night on an L.A. street while he apparently heard gunfire somewhere? Yes, yes and yes.

All of it equals once of the most delightful books I’ve read in some time. It’s a fast read, but I can wholeheartedly recommend it to any Topless Roboteer, and would suggest it would make a fine gift for any movie-loving nerd in your life. It’s currently available for $16 in hardcover on Amazon.