Get your own
Free Home Page
Sorsha
Joanne Whalley
by Patrick Daniel O'Neill
"Willow is very much a departure for me, in terms of the kind of project it is, and its scale--it's a big film," says Joanne Whalley, who portrays the warrior princess Sorsha. Despite her background in "small" British movies and London stage work, the actress notes that she "never felt overpowered by Willow, just very excited. I had a great time. Horseback riding is one of my passions--and I got to ride some great horses in this film. I got to learn sword fighting, which I now love. So rarely do girls get an opportunity to do that sort of thing. Since we were shooting with several units, some days there would be more than two camera's shooting a scene, which was different from my previous work. We had armies, filming in spectacular places."
As Sorsha, Whalley portrays a young woman who isn't really bad but she does obey her mother, Queen Bavmorda, the most evil sorceress in the land. When Bavmorda tells her to scour the countryside for the infant whose birth was foretold, Sorsha does so, without considering the consequences. Ultimately, torn between her love for Madmartigan and her own flesh and blood, Sorsha must make a fateful choice. On her decision rests the fate of the world of Willow.
A successful stage and television actress in her native England, Joanne Whalley has played numerous roles at the Royal Court Theatre. She has also appeared on stage at both the National and Greewich Theatres. Her films include Dance With a Stranger, A Christmas Carol, No Surrender, The Good Father, and To Kill a Priest.
From the beginning of her involvement with Willow, Whalley notes there were amusing moments. They started with her second interview with director Ron Howard. "I was called in a second time to meet him," she says, "and do a videotape for him. That was very funny, because he made me sit on a chair sideways, and pretend it was a horse. He handed me a silver plastic sword to use as well. That got me the job."
The humorous moments continued. "When we started rehearsing for Willow--in the midst of working with the swordmaster--in the evenings, I was doing Anton Chekov's The Three Sisters. That was quite an odd combination."
So that by the time lensing began, Whalley might have been better prepared for the curious incident to come. "On my first day of shooting, we did a scene in a tavern where Sorsha has her army with her and everyone is pushing each other around," she recalls. "I get pushed around--and I jam my sword into the floor and leave it there, then whip of my helmet with the same hand, to reveal that I'm not just any knockabout soldier. I'm a girl, I'm Sorsha! We did it quite a few times, for different angles. So, I had done this movement over and over, and gotten very free with it. Well they kept moving the actors closer and closer together for tighter shots--and one particular time, I jammed the sword into the floor and heard a strange noise. I had put it through somebody's boot! Fortunately, it missed his toes, because he curled his toes up inside the boot. But this poor stuntman was nearly skewered. It warned all the stuntment--'We've got six months of this coming up.' "
Beyond the laughs that can be had when shooting a big-budget epic adventure, Whalley says she is proud of her work in Willow--including the more physical side. "I did a little bit of archery, there's a scene we shot (which has not been used in the film--Ron Howard told me why, but I've forgotten) which I'm quite proud of. It's a bit where Sorsha, on horseback, takes two enemies out with her bow and arrow. It involved galloping along, without the reins, notching an arrow, and aiming the bow and firing, twice. It's a shame it's gone, but there's so much action in the film, you can't keep everything. That was just a tiny bit.
"The stuntmen were wonderful, because sword fights are like dance," she continues, "everything is choreographed to the nth degree. Sometimes it's difficult, because you can get slammed a little too hard and lose your breath or your balance, and that throws the timing off." Making the fight choreography even more difficult is the nature of Sorsha's weapon. "My sword is a big saber-like thing with a serrated edge--it's evil," Whalley notes. "I'm not sure what it was made out of, it may have been a lightweight metal but, still, when you've got a sword that size with a big handle and all, it's heavy. Bill Hobbs is a brilliant swordmaster and he says he was very pleased with me. It's a whole new kind of coordination, even though I'm fairly athletic."
Whelly has nothing but praise for director Howard and executive producer George Lucas. "What I liked about Ron was that he always had time," she says. "Among the actors, the central core, there was a feeling that we were a construction team. We all felt free to make suggestions. And Ron has a sort of peacefulness about him--he was a center of calm amid all the spectacle--and you could always take him to one side and talk to him. He would ask your opinion of the scene; it wasn't always, 'Right, we've got it! On to the next shot!' Sometimes, it had to be that way, purely because of the film's scale, or things that couldn't be repeated. But in general, I felt very comfortable with Ron--I was able to make suggestions and try out new things. That was great--because often, on a project of this scale, you don't have that space to work in.
"George Lucas was around a great deal during filming," she remembers. "He oversaw everything--every detail. He was very concerned. I was amazed by his energy, because he was also doing another production at the same time. Somehow, he always seemed to be on our set, and he had a lot of say in every area of the film. He was always there--very confident, and at the same time meticulous, poring over details."
Joanne Whalley has one special hope for Willow. She offers her thoughts on the nature of her character and its effects on young women in the audience. "What I like about Sorsha is that she's a very positive character. I hope she represents a positive image, a good role model, for young girls. Although she never loses her vulnerability, she can still go out on her own and do things."
O'Neill, Patrick Daniel. "Sorsha: Joanne Whalley." The Official Willow Movie Magazine. Ed. David McDonnell. New York: Jacobs, 1988. 24-26.
Get your own
Free Home Page