Star Wars icon escorted by stormtroopers at Gatwick

Warwick Davis, a much-loved actor who appeared in many of the Star Wars films, was at World Duty Free in Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal to celebrate the release of ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’.

Mr Davis entered the store flanked by stormtroopers and was on hand to meet fans, pose for selfies and autograph Christmas gifts for fans.

He also took over the @WorldDutyFree Twitter account to answer questions about his experience making the films.

Appearing in five of the eight Star Wars films, his long association with the saga dates back to when he was just eleven years old and played the role of an Ewok called Wicket in ‘Return of the Jedi’.

He appears in Rogue One as a new Rebel character called Weeteef Cyubee, fighting in Saw Gerrero’s (Forest Whittaker) team.

“Warwick is performing pretty blind inside the animatronic head,” creature-effect supervisor Neal Scalan says of Mr Davis’ performance in Rogue One.

“He is cocooned in his costume and his imagination brings such incredible life to his performance,” he added.

The activity in Gatwick North is also complemented by additional activity in Gatwick South, which runs until 17th January 2017.

Passengers will discover a life-size replica costume exhibit featuring the heroes of ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’.

To make the Rogue One experience even more immersive, customers can try out the virtual reality installation in the World Duty Free Gatwick south store. As soon as they put on the VR helmet, they are transported to a galaxy far, far away.

The new release from Lucasfilm has already become the UK’s biggest opening of 2016.

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