‘Star Wars’: Anthony Daniels Admits ‘Losing My Humanity’ in C-3PO Costume
What To Know
- Anthony Daniels revealed that wearing the C-3PO costume for the first time made him feel like he was “losing [his] humanity.”
- He described the costume as difficult to see and move in, requiring 17 separate pieces and significant assistance to put on, making his initial experience disorienting and memorable.
- Daniels has portrayed C-3PO in every main Star Wars film since 1977, as well as in several spin-offs and animated series, making the character a defining role in his career.
Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels recently made a bold confession about playing C-3PO in the iconic sci-fi film series.
During an interview for Nacelle’s Icons Unearthed series published on February 19, Daniels, 80, detailed the first time he tried on the robot costume for the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
“They put it on me, piece by piece by piece, and gradually, I really kind of felt I was losing my humanity,” he admitted. “I was clamped into this. And then they did have a camera turning. And for about 10 minutes or so, I wobbled around this workshop, crashing into things, smashing things. And then they took it off.”
Daniels continued, “It was a relief, you know? Ten minutes, 15 minutes, felt like a lifetime, a nightmare. I couldn’t see anything. It’s no wonder I crashed into stuff.”
He described the eye sockets of the C-3P0 costume as “little pinholes,” explaining, “Anything that was in my way was in my way, and I found out about it often too late.”
Although Daniels requested to keep the C-3PO costume so he could get used to moving around in it, the costume had to be packed up and sent to Tunisia. The next time he wore it was when he stood on the planet Tatooine.
On the first day of filming for Daniels, he said it took a half-hour to put on the head alone with two people helping. There were 17 pieces in total to get into the costume. Finally, the tent flaps opened after Daniels was fully in character, and he wobbled out into the sand as C-3PO for the first time.
“People say, what’s the most memorable thing for you of Star Wars?” he said. “And it was that moment. Absolutely that moment.”
Daniels has played C-3PO in every Star Wars episodic film from the original 1997 movie to The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, as well as in Rogue One (2016). He also voiced the character in Solo (2018), Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.