Paul Warren is a British actor and creature performer known for playing aliens and monsters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Andor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World, Willow (TV series), Ghost Stories and Unwelcome.
Although now known for his creature performing work, he began his film career as a body double for Daniel Radcliffe on the film Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. Spending most of his time in the air on the hydraulic broomstick system and other physically demanding activities, it wasn't long before Paul started to get noticed in the industry as a versatile performer.
Although now known for his creature performing work, he began his film career as a body double for Daniel Radcliffe on the film Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. Spending most of his time in the air on the hydraulic broomstick system and other physically demanding activities, it wasn't long before Paul started to get noticed in the industry as a versatile performer.
In 2007, he was recommended to the legendary Stan Winston Studio as a good choice to portray an emaciated version of the title character in The Deaths of Ian Stone. The role required full body prosthetics and cgi head replacement with lead actor Mike Vogel. The invaluable experience Paul gained working with Stan’s crew to achieve this tricky effect is what ultimately set him on a path to becoming a creature performer.
His first creature role was in the remake of Clash of the Titans. Working with the Oscar nominated Creatures Inc, he underwent a 5 hour makeup process to transform into the boatman's tortured soul. To add to the challenge of performing in such extreme silicone prosthetics, the scene was filmed in a large outside water tank at Pinewood studios.
In 2010, Paul was chosen by director Joe Johnston to be the pre-production visual effects double for skinny Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger. Working closely with Lola Visual Effects, he helped bring Skinny Steve to life in the VFX tests. He was also on set as a visual reference for the recruitment scene (along with Leander Deeny, who was the body double for the remainder of the film).
He has since gone on to be a core creature performer in Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World and World War Z, however he is probably most known for his work with Neal Scanlan's creature department on Star Wars. Paul is credited on Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a 'creature and droid puppeteer' and plays an alien called 'Varmik'. This character is of particular interest to Star Wars fans due to his origin; Varmik is based on 2 classic pieces of production art from George Lucas' first Star Wars film in 1977 - the cantina showdown and early Chewbacca designs by Ralph McQuarrie. The cantina showdown was a particular favourite of J.J Abrams’ that he wanted to bring to life on screen.
Paul was asked to return to creature and droid puppeteer duties on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where he was given a large Canto Bight casino alien called the Dowager to perform inside. The character created quite a buzz online when it was confirmed by director Rian Johnson that the animatronic space dog it holds was based on Carrie Fisher's very own pet pug Gary.
Occasionally he still steps out from behind the prosthetics, for example when he provided mime/movement for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One and when he was a special action performer on Kingsman: The Secret Service for that stunning stunt scene in the church choreographed by the late great Brad Allan.
During the 2020 pandemic period, Paul joined the cast and crew of the killer goblin film Unwelcome. As well as playing the Redcap goblin Mr Sniff, he also took on a new role of Creature Movement Coach for Nick Chopping's stunt team.
In 2022 he appeared in 2 Lucasfilm productions. The first was the television series Star Wars: Andor performing the arms of the character Dr. Quadpaw, followed by creature performing work on the fantasy sequel series Willow.