He'd had people walking in doing robot acting. And he was very tired because he was seeing so many actors. He wasn't this Hollywood mogul with a cigar. It wasn't far away, to the 20th Century offices in London. I'd spent three years of drama school, and I thought I was really quite a serious actor. George Lucas was seeing a lot of actors in England because the original film, to many people's surprise, was filmed about half an hour north of where I'm sitting in a place called Elstree Studios. I assumed that this unknown American wanted to see me because I was physically quite neat and could control my body as a mime person might, something I'd learned at drama school. And all people in films are kind of cigar-smoking, big guys. I thought it was from Hollywood, because in my imagination, all films came from Hollywood. And I'd been doing stuff on TV and having great fun in the theater. After that, I joined a theater company in London. I won an award to do the BBC radio drama repertory company for six months. And so I left drama school and I was very lucky. I talk about doing mime with a blank mask on. At the age of 24, I was so fed up with life - not being an actor - that I took myself to drama school for three years. In your book, you reveal you almost didn't go to the audition. The dining room has now turned into a bit of a TV studio because it's not that safe to go out and also it's turned into a gym so that I can stay fit and healthy, just in case I need to get back into my robot suit.ĭaniels with his golden friend. I'm here in my home in England, in London. Q: Let me start out by asking, are you safe and healthy?ĭaniels: I am safe and, touch wood, I am healthy. Here's an edited transcript of our Skype conversation.įor more with Anthony Daniels, read CNET's interview with him from his London home. 'But I was also saying goodbye to myself, taking one last look at myself in this role.'ĭaniels, speaking over video chat from his dining room in London last month, also shared stories about how long it took to get into his unforgiving metal costume and about his favorite Star Wars toy. 'I also felt that this was the last movie and I was saying goodbye and taking one last look at the fans around the world, the people who have been part of the whole thing,' he says. And he re-creates (in our video interview) some of his favorite lines, calling out the scene in The Rise of Skywalker when he's about to get his memory wiped.

Lucas actually tested 30 other actors to give voice to C-3PO after filming was complete, including actor Richard Dreyfuss, before being convinced by a voiceover pro that Daniel's take of the droid worked best. The story about not wanting to audition is only one of the surprises that Daniels shares.

I am c 3po