Don't worry, George, Rick Overton isn't lobbing verbal grenades at Willow. The shot is at the expense of the last film he and fellow jokester Kevin Pollak did together, the ill-fated Million Dollar Mystery.

And shots are par for the course when crossing swords with Overton and Pollak. Sure, they're happy to be playing the rat-killing brownies Franjean and Rool. They're pleased to be in the new Ron Howard-George Lucas fantasy. And they're more than willing to pontificate for the press.

But we're talking people who live and breathe chuckles. Overton and Pollak have logged more time in comedy clubs, talk shows and motion pictures than most comics who hustle rimshots. Both are hip to the far side of science fiction. Overton has done a ton of conventions (including hosting STARLOG's Salute to Star Wars), while Pollak's goofy skit Star Trek V: In Search of Cash has become a much-bootlegged item on the underground collector's circuit.

Comics don't give pat interview answers. They'll probably eventually answer your question. But, in the process, the interviewer has to wade through a sinkhole of one liners, innuendoes, parodies and mock verbal assaults. And in the name of not missing a thing, STARLOG is going the Q&A route.

The scene is a Burbank sound studio where Overton and Pollak are dubbing some last-minute brownie dialogue. They settle onto a couch. They open their mouths. Watch out for Unidentified Flying Laughs.

STARLOG: How do you psyche yourself up to play a brownie?

RICK OVERTON: Hollywood is a town where everybody wants you to think big. Kevin and I simply reversed the process and began to think small.

STARLOG: How did you get the roles in Willow?

OVERTON: I had worked with Ron [Howard, director, STARLOG #97, 132] in the film Gung Ho. Ron is the kind of guy who tends to use the people he works with over and over. He called me in, I read and was hired.

KEVIN POLLAK: After Rick was hired, they asked him who he could suggest to play the other brownie. He suggested me and a few other guys. We all came in and read and did some improv stuff with Rick. Those readings were taped and sent to George and Ron who were scouting locations in England. I got the Willow and Million Dollar Mystery jobs because of Rick, so I owe him both my testicles anytime he wants to collect.

OVERTON: How about right after this interview?

STARLOG: Obviously, there was more to playing a brownie than thinking small.

POLLAK: We basically created the brownies from scratch. We made up the walk, the war cry. We even ended up creating stories about their past lives.

OVERTON: Yeah, my character came from an OK family. We weren't rich, but we did OK. We lived in a dead goat. One day, I came home and discovered that the local dog had dragged the goat away, family and all. So, I was on my own. I did a lot of local theater to get by.

POLLAK: I was a flea trainer with a traveling circus for years. They were pit fleas, very dangerous and temperamental. I had no formal education. I was sort of a street-smart brownie.

STARLOG: What was your first day on the Willow set like?

POLLAK: I was shocked. Rick had told me that Ron was a comfortable director to work with. I was keeping a diary at the time, and the night before I wrote, "I firmly believe I will get on the set tomorrow, a woman will come up to me and say, 'My name is Ellen. You'll be getting all your instructions from me. At no point will you ever actually meet or talk with George Lucas or Ron Howard. They will be hiding behind a curtain.' "

OVERTON: The first day we were driven to a place where some scenes were being shot, told to go into a nearby tent and have some lunch. We're going through the food line and, suddenly, there's George Lucas butting in line in front of us, trying to get to the three-bean salad. Twenty minutes later, we were sitting at a table with Ron and George joking about sequels.

STARLOG: What was the toughest part of the film for you?

OVERTON: Getting into those damned costumes! We hadn't seen the pre-production art, so we thought we would be wearing little tailored Keebler elf outfits with little pointy shoes. Then, we saw the original art and realized we would be almost naked the whole time. We had to run off to a gymnasium and make it burn to get into shape.

POLLAK: Yeah, we're talking lots of liposuction.

STARLOG: Did you have any scenes with other actors or was your stuff primarily done in post-production?

POLLAK: It was all blue screen and oversized props and it was all done in post. Our stuff took five weeks to shoot. It was just Rick and me and George and Ron on a stage.

OVERTON: It was nice being the center of attention. It was Mr. Pollak this and Mr. Overton that. Suddenly, I was a mister for the first time in my life. You can't shake a stick at that.

STARLOG: What kind of FX did you play off of?

POLLAK: Giant rocks. Twelve-foot tall blades of grass.

OVERTON: Don't forget that giant leather pouch. That was big fun! For this one scene, we spent hours inside this giant foam rubber pouch. Smoke was being blown around and we were inside sweating our butts off. I was getting real close with my pal Kev.

POLLAK: Yeah, we became buddies in the Biblical sense.

STARLOG: What about the makeup?

OVERTON: Just warpaint. No prosthetics. And a lot of hair that looks like Don King microwaved his head.

STARLOG: Was it difficult reacting to things that weren't there?

POLLAK: We had visions of getting to this soundstage and finding a 60-year-old teamster on a scaffold eating a tuna sandwich, holding a flag and mumbling some lines that we would have to react to. Fortunately, Ron was the director. He's one of the most animated directors I've ever worked for. He would say, "OK, we need something over here," and then he would race over to the other side of the soundstage and yell, "Suddenly, they're over here." Then, he would run to another point and yell, "Now, they're swooping down here." You couldn't help but be enthusiastic with that kind of direction.

STARLOG: I understand George Lucas directed you in some shots? How was he as a director?

POLLAK: The difference was monumental. Ron's favorite saying was "Perfect, let's do one more." George would just calmly say, "OK, action," or he would say, "OK, you start here and run over there." We would do it, he would say cut, turn to the cameraman and ask, "Do you need another one?"

STARLOG: Did you have carte blanche to play around with your characters?

POLLAK: Are you making up these questions as you go along or did you make them up last night?

OVERTON: That's what is known in the trade as "busting the journalist's balls." Would you mind repeating the question?

STARLOG: Did Ron give you the chance to improvise on the set?

OVERTON: Yeah, Ron definitely gave us room to play around. Because he trusted our instincts, his attitude was, "Let's get a couple of takes according to the script and then let's get a couple of takes of you guys having fun." But Kevin and I both realized that you had to work on a new idea ahead of time rather than coming up with something on the spot because you take a real chance that something's going to be funny the moment you think of it. So, we got together a week before filming started and worked up a bunch of things we passed off as being spontaneous.

STARLOG: Did much of the improv make the film?

POLLAK: Yes, as a matter of fact. In fact, we're even improvising some new bits now in the looping sessions.

STARLOG: It must have been weird playing a tiny supporting actor--

POLLAK: Did you hear what he said, Rick? Us playing support? I think this is definitely the brownies' film.

OVERTON: Busting the journalist's balls, take two.

STARLOG: How would you analyze the characters of the brownies?

OVERTON: We're the chihuahuas of the humanoid species. Because we're smaller than everybody else, we're nervous and trembly. Our bark is worse than our bite. We try to ward off trouble by baring our teeth and hoping that works.

POLLAK: Rick's character [Franjean] takes this mission very seriously while mine [Rool] seems to be doing everything possible to sabotage the mission but ultimately stands with him.

OVERTON: The brownies are like an old married couple. They argue about the small things so they don't have to worry about dealing with the big ones.

STARLOG: Is this your dream role?

OVERTON: Actually, I think our dream role would be in a snuff film. We would get blown away in the first reel.

POLLAK: I think our dream role would be in a porno version of Willow. It would be called Pussywillow.

OVERTON: Yeah, a 12-inch tall brownie would come in real handy.

POLLAK: Or how bout a porno version of Rambo called Rambutt? We fancy ourselves comedic actors who can play the physical and intellectual side of any role. The most I could hope to get out of playing a brownie in Willow is to get the accolades John Belushi got in Animal House. Willow is the first physically funny thing I've done on this big a scale. I don't think anybody is going to see me in this film and say, "There's the next Cary Grant."

OVERTON: But something has gotta come out of appearing in something this big. Personally, I would like to start getting the roles that Peter Sellers used to get.

STARLOG: Do you have any embarrassing or funny Willow anecdotes?

OVERTON: You mean everything we've told you so far isn't enough? Boy, this guy's asking for trouble!

POLLAK: There were scenes where we were supposed to run into frame and stop. We would run into frame and keep on running. I remember one day when Ron came on the set, we had everybody whistle the theme from The Andy Griffith Show.

STARLOG: What's the one question you're tired of being asked?

OVERTON: What's the one question you're tired of being asked?

POLLAK: "When did you realize you were funny?" is a good one.

OVERTON: "What does it feel like to bomb?" That's a fave.

STARLOG: How do you see Willow?

POLLAK: With my eyes.

OVERTON: It deals with the same good vs. evil morality as Star Wars. You're dealing with somebody who is not conventional being given the opportunity to be a hero.

POLLAK: It has more car chases than The Blues Brothers, more subtleties than Blade Runner. It's basic epic action adventure.

STARLOG: Do you think there will be a Willow II?

OVERTON: I hope so.

POLLAK: It's up to where George sees the story going. There has been light talk of a sequel. But you never know.

STARLOG: Will Willow make you superstars?

POLLAK: I don't think there's a chance in hell of us getting that much attention.

OVERTON: I would settle for getting a decent table at a restaurant.

STARLOG: One final question: What is the big lesson you've learned from Willow?

POLLAK: Sign the sequel deal before you do the first film.

OVERTON: And be sure to get a piece of the merchandising.