Warwick Davis in new Star Wars film

The actor has starred in two previous Star Wars films

Warwick Davis, who played Wicket the Ewok in 1983's Return of the Jedi, will have a role in the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode VII.

Davis, who also played the dual roles of Weazel and Wald in 1999 prequel The Phantom Menace, broke the news via video on YouTube.

It is unknown whether Davis will return as Wicket. The actor reprised the role in two TV spin-offs in 1984 and 1985.

Star Wars: Episode VII is released in December 2015.

Last year, Davis said - if asked to take part in the new franchise - he would like to play "someone from the Dark Side... [and] perhaps wield a lightsaber".

"I usually have to drop loads of hints. It's what I had to do for 'Episode One'," he joked in March 2013. "I used to have to send lots of faxes to George Lucas just to remind him that I was still around."

The new film franchise is being directed by JJ Abrams, who co-created the hit TV series Lost and directed the Star Trek reboot and its sequel.

Christmas comedy

The YouTube video shows an out-of-work Davis - more than a year after the film was announced - taking a fictional call from Abrams who has finally offered him a part in the new movie.. He concludes the call, telling Abrams: "May the force be with you," before hollering with delight.

The film, which will be the first in a new trilogy, will also feature co-stars from the original trilogy including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhew.

Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow are also starring in the film, which is currently being shot at Pinewood studios in Buckinghamshire.

Two further films set in the Star Wars universe are also in the works.

Davis' credits include Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films and Nikabrik in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. He will next be seen on the big screen in the Christmas comedy Get Santa, alongside Jim Broadbent and Rafe Spall.