My Interview with C-3PO Himself, Anthony Daniels

Star Wars has had many great and iconic characters from the six movie saga. One actor has been able to play his iconic character in all of the films. That actor is Anthony Daniels who plays the role of the golden droid C-3PO. Daniels will be at the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando later this month. He was in Japan for the Star Wars In Concert series as the narrator. Anthony and I discuss the films, the concert series, how the voice of C-3PO came to be, and much more.

Art Eddy: You are going to be at the Star Wars Celebration this month in Orlando. What can fans expect from this event?

Anthony Daniels: I don’t do that many appearances at conventions. I like to keep them special for me. And for the fans I hope. But I’d be sorry to miss Celebration. There is something special about it, right from that wonderfully memorable first time with Dan Madsen in the rain. Well, deluge, really. And Celebration has really taken off! I was so impressed last time in Orlando. The production team must spend most of their days planning and bringing together all sorts of fun elements that surprise even me. Some are big professional events like the Clone Wars presentations; others are fan-created, like the huge diorama where kids and their children can get stuck up with glue and tape and anything that will create a miniature of the worlds of Star Wars. Personally I love to see the kind of creativity that has fans wearing home-made outfits. My favorite was a little boy proudly strutting in a Biker’s uniform made out of cardboard boxes duct taped together and painted white. Then there was the his/her’s suit and dress made out of bed sheets, featuring C-3PO. Anyway, fans take great pleasure in showing off and admiring their Star Wars creativity. Me? I just admire. Enough dressing up already! It’s my day job.

Of course there will be the usual panels and Q&A;’s and autographs. I’m going to do some kind of presentation on stage. I don’t know exactly what but those fans who’ve seen me know that I don’t exactly sit behind a table and mutter into a mic. They’d better be prepared to be a part of it all and it certainly won’t be suitable for children under 10 years old, I suspect. We don’t want them picking up bad habits. I’ll be glad if there are a few SW experts there. They’ll be a great help. But anyone can come armed with the question they’ve always wanted to ask a man who’s spent half of his life dressed up in metal and talking in a silly voice.

AE: Is it fun to attend these events and see the fans reactions when they get to meet you and other stars from the Star Wars Saga?

AD: On a film set everyone is very cool. Well, blasé really. So it’s only later that you find other people are rather impressed that you being involved in it all. It’s pleasing when they come up and say things like, thank you for my childhood. Of course it makes me feel old but I’ve come to realize how important the Saga is in the time-line of so many families. I love it when the younger fans don’t quite get it that I’m THE MAN INSIDE. Then I do THE VOICE and you see the information flashing through their synaptic connections and smiles and eye widenings flood their face.

AE: Right now you are in Japan for the Star Wars In Concert series. I saw the show a few years back when it came to New Jersey. I love the concept of the music concert with the films as a backdrop. How did you get involved with being the narrator?

AD: 3PO claims not to be very good at telling stories. The rest is history. And I’ve been there every time. So he is sort of ambassador. So when they asked me if I’d like to be a part of SWIC (as the team calls it) I hesitated. But not for very long at all! And now here I am in Tokyo after a stunning opening night. Absolutely stunning! As ever, I’m thrilled to say that the audience, well, thrilled to our concert. I wondered how it might differ from the European, Canadian and American tours that we’ve made over the last three years. No problem. The reaction, the standing ovation was so rewarding. I have been given the gift of presenting Star Wars to an audience. They’re live. The orchestra is live, the choir, the conductor. Even I’m live and the atmosphere so live it’s almost electric. I love narrating the show. True! I never really understood the whole story until SWIC came along. Telling the story sequentially rather than backwards does help. (What was George thinking of!) And the specially edited film sequences are superb. And the music played IN SYNC! It’s like we’re all walking a tightrope on stage every time. And every time it just gets better.

AE: You are the only actor to have been in all six of the Star Wars films and have worked with all the main characters in the saga. Is there one moment that stands out for you?

AD: I’m infamous for turning down the interview opportunity with George. The Fates or rather the Force must have taken a hand against my stupidity because yes, I am the only one who’s been there every time. It is strange. Working with Alec Guinness was an honor, but meeting Ewan and Sam Jackson as they bubbled with excitement at working with 3PO, an icon from Star Wars. And I’m bubbling over that I’m working with THEM. It was a WOW moment of pure joy.

AE: Did you like the storyline of how C-3PO was developed from the original trilogy to the prequels and see how he was created?

AD: Utterly wonderful. I had never expected it. Out at Leavesden Studios in pre-production George told me 3PO was built by Anakin. I thought he was the character that Sir Alec played. Days later I realized my mistake. Vader is his daddy??!! 3PO doesn’t know. Don’t tell. Of course I relive that scene every night of SWIC with images of 3PO coming alive at Anakin’s hand with the immortal line, “Oh! Hello.” Pure Shakespeare. My one sadness is that George cut the scenes where Padme put coverings on the ‘naked 3PO. It was a moving and rewarding scene that gave you a little insight into 3PO’s feelings.

AE: Tell me about how you came up with the voice of C-3PO.

AD: It took six months to create the costume around my body so I was at Elstree Studios a great deal, thinking about 3PO and reading each new draft of the script as it came of George’s typewriter. I tried all sorts of voices from very mechanical Dalek to very smooth HAL but nothing fitted in my head. Out on Tatooine I wore the suit for the first time so 3PO arrived physically and then, in front of the Mark and Phil, he arrived vocally. It was some kind of latent magic. Or the Force. Of course George wasn’t sure at first but eventually kept my performance.

AE: Do you have a favorite film from the saga?

AD: Episode IV.

AE: Lastly you also appear in Episodes II and III as Lieutenant Dannl Faytonni, where you play a human. How did that come about?

AD: I said to George that I’d like to have my own face visible somewhere in the Saga and he said, “Sure.”