Anthony Daniels, Actor Behind C-3PO, Returned for ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ on One Condition

Anthony Daniels told Star Wars: Episode VII producers he would only return as character C-3P0 if he could get back in the robot’s famous golden suit.

Daniels, who played the character in the original 1970s and 1980s films, was approached by director J.J. Abrams who offered him a role in the new installment, Star Wars: Episode VII.

However, Abrams originally offered Daniels a voice only part, which he turned down.

Daniels tells Entertainment Weekly, “When J.J. Abrams rang me to ask about filming Episode VII, one of the first things he said was ‘Would you be interested 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’d just do the voice.”

Daniels was quick to criticise the computer-generated version of C3P0 which appeared in the prequel films released between 1999 and 2005, and insists he would rather step into the suit himself, adding, “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, he’s always going to move the same way and have the same reactions. With CGI, you’re working with some brilliant person on the keyboard who is trying to pretend to be me.”

Daniels will be seen in the golden suit when the movie hits screens next December “with changes that you will never notice that made my life easier.”

Photo Credit: Anthony Daniels Official Website