Actor Anthony
Daniels will be reprising his role as C-3PO for the seventh time on the big
screen when director J.J. Abrams sequel to Return of the Jedi hits theaters on
December 18th, 2015.
Speaking to
Entertainment Weekly the actor revealed that there were some minor yet
significant changes made to his iconic suit. The actor also talked about the
previous use of CGI to create that "awful" Threepio.
"I will
tell you that when [director] J.J. Abrams rang me to ask about filming Episode
VII, one of the first things he said after he told me how wonderful I was — and
that didn’t take long — but he then said, “Would you be interested in being in
the film just doing the voice?” I said, “No,” and he said, “Right!” He knew I’d
say that. There’s no way I would just do the voice. I also said that it can’t
be the same suit. I will tell you that the team then got together and built a
new suit. They made an entirely new look-a-like with changes that you will
never notice [on screen] that made my life a lot easier. I can get it on and
off very quickly.
[During the
prequels], the only time [Threepio has] been CG was when it was very dangerous
[to act in the scene in a suit] — and it wasn’t very good. In fact, I’m going
to say it was awful. One of the difficulties is with a character that you know
and love so well is that, as a member of the audience, you go, “Oh no, that’s
not right. No, he doesn’t move like that.” With me [in the suit], he’s always
going to move the same way and have the same reactions, timing, and so on. With
CG, you’re working with some brilliant person on the keyboard who is trying to
pretend to be me. The only time that has worked without doubt is Disney’s Star
Tours: The Adventures Continue [theme park ride]. There’s an element in the
pre-show which is digital and I cannot tell it’s not me. It’s brilliantly done
by Disney. In a cartoon series like Rebels, you accept it because it’s not
trying to pretend to be reality. It’s an extension, it’s an exaggeration. On
that basis, it’s utterly acceptable — providing the characterization is correct."
The British
actor was then asked, given the multiple adventures, and dramas that 3PO had
witness and partaken, if he had grown.
"It’s a
very good question actually. [Pause]. If you ask me about Episode VII … of course I will deny any knowledge
whatsoever. But it occurred to me on the set the other day, because I’ve been
doing it for so long, being 3PO for so long, I have a kind of confidence about
what he would do in a particular scene. I think 3PO might have grown in
confidence over the years because he’s survived so many dramas and he’s gained
so much knowledge about what’s going on in the galaxy. He may have grown in
that way. But generally the way he appears to grow is by being faced by new
situations and new conflicts. He’s very much a washing machine — you could put
in a set of fine lingerie and he might do it on a different cycle. It’s what
you give him to do that brings out fresh attitudes. He might meet somebody who
is rude or smelly or just awful and that brings out — I won’t say snobbishness,
he is a bit of a snob but … it brings out his reactive quality. That’s always
funny for me because I look for new ways to become appalled. A lot of the time
in the studio, you should realize, I read the words, my mouth opens, he comes
out of my mouth and we all laugh. I laugh. The director laughs, and the
engineer laughs. You think, “Yeah, this is really good.”"
Prequels or no
prequels, George Lucas created something for the ages in Star Wars, so how will
the new set of films bode without him at the helm.
"He’ll
always be the inspiration. The first film was incredible success. Then the the
second was a phenomena too. You come to the third film [pause] that had Ewoks
in it. Anyway! Moving on! People began having ownership of these films.
Everyone is a critic, etc. Then time moves on and we come to the prequels. I’m
ignoring the special edition, the 3-D special edition, the special edition box
set, the whatever. But then you move on to the prequels and people became quite
critical. Often they were the people who were there the first time around. They
weren’t the 10-year-olds. What I’m coming to say is that none of this would
have happened without George. None of it. The depth that people get out of the Star Wars saga in general whether it’s cartoons
or toys or whatever is so praiseworthy, so astounding that George — How would
you say it? Okay, I’m going to say it: George is the force behind it. Eventually, maybe, people
run out of ideas, they lose track of what was the really neat stuff that we
really went for. Then he wisely — probably thankfully, I don’t know but I would
imagine — said, “Okay, I’ve done this, now you go play with it. Go play in the
sandbox. I’ve given you the basic ingredients.” Darth Vader, Yoda, all these
names that are everywhere now. [For me], it’s almost to the point of, “Oh
please, let me off, for one day! Let me not hear this clock forever ticking in
my ear.” But that’s the way it is now. Star Wars Rebels is just one way of bridging this
18-month gap between now and the next [film]. Rebels producer, Dave Filoni, he knows what
he’s doing. He upped the ante on the previous things we’ve done. It’s a
tremendous form of access for young people and for parents to sit with their
kids."
Harrison Ford
once famously said that he wanted Han Solo to die in Return of the Jedi. How
about C-3PO? How would he die?
"[Long pause] A child about
10 once asked me: “Is it hot in the costume?” And I said, “If only somebody had
asked me a question that had never been asked before.” And he paused and said:
“What would that be?” Well, of course, I smacked him, I knocked him into the
ground, the little creep! You have asked me a question I’ve never been asked
before … You asked the most interesting question I have ever been asked.
Don’t get carried away. You asked
me 20 others. It took half an hour to get to an interesting question. But you
have asked me a brilliant question… [Pause]. Humans die … I guess, wow. … Would
he rust, gently? … I think probably he would realize that his programming was
failing, that it was too old fashioned, and Microsoft had stopped supporting
that particular brand. He would see upcoming new robots and realize his power
source was running out. He’d say to R2, “Can you go down and get me a new power
spectrum?” or whatever. I don’t think he’d ever — I’m looking at this image
with [C-3PO having his replacement] silver leg. I think he would go on. Getting
spare parts, getting surgery. And I think the people around him, humans and droids
alike, would help because he would become part of their daily lives, part of
their environment. They wouldn’t want to let him go. You know, I’m a great
do-it-yourself person at home. I mend pretty much anything I can, whether it’s
melting plastic with a hot skewer from the stove because the plastic is
cracked, or with my glue gun mending this or that, or cannibalizing a part from
something else that I kept in the workshop. I will keep objects going. I’m not
from the throw-away culture, I’m from the make-and-mend culture. Threepio is
nice to have around. I think he would go on and on and on."
Star Wars: Episode VII opens on December
18, 2015 and stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels,
Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Lupita Nyong'o, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam
Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Gwendoline Christie, Domhnall Gleeson, Max
von Sydow, Crystal Clarke, Pip Anderson, Miltos Yerolemou, and Greg
Grunberg.
Source - EW (Full Interview)
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