British actor Anthony Daniels, best known for portraying C-3PO in the iconic Star Wars film series, told Sputnik that he is happy to be involved in the upcoming seventh episode of the saga. The acclaimed actor arrived in the Russian capital to take part in the Comic Con 2015 convention and to present Episodes 4, 5 and 6 of the Star Wars saga on the wide screen for the first time in Russia's history.
C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels taking a break pic.twitter.com/sPasABnbc8
— Behind the Scenes (@MakingOfs) 29 сентября 2015
"I did Episodes 4, 5, and 6, then a big gap… So then we made Episodes 1, 2 and 3, and I thought that was it – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is enough. And then some years past, ten years past, and then another phone call."
He also pointed out that originally, in 1976, George Lucas said that there would be nine episodes, and is now fulfilling his dream and the dream of "every Star Wars fan around the planet."
Daniels noted that, back in the 1980s, science fiction wasn't popular, and that being a "serious actor" he was initially reluctant to star in the George Lucas’ movie. However, when the film premiered in 1977, "no one had seen anything like that before."
#QOTD: "No! I don't think he likes you at all." "[Beeps.]" "No. I don't like you either." — C-3PO & R2-D2 pic.twitter.com/jIDCiszZxD
— Star Wars Underworld (@TheSWU) 29 сентября 2015
"It was really a very simple story. It was a hero, a girl, a bad character, and you had some crazy characters," Daniels said. "But one important thing is that all the human actors talked to the crazy characters as though they were real. So Luke Skywalker talked to C-3PO as though C-3PO was another human being… So if the characters in the movie treat each other as real, the audience believes they’re real."
C-3PO is fluent in six million languages and he still doesn't know what Nicki Minaj is singing about.
— Darth Vader (@Lidamgo) 24 сентября 2015
According to Daniels, the secret of the Star Wars saga’s success and the reason why it became a cultural phenomenon was that members of the audience could relate to the characters.
"George Lucas took all the elements from any story that had ever been told. And much as you can take the contents of a recipe, it depends on how you put the eggs and the flour and all the meat and everything together, and everybody would make a different story. And at that time there was no other movie like it."
Daniels also added that Lucas basically introduced the idea that space wasn't "squeaky clean", and that instead of lycra suits and shiny metal he made it look "grungy and used."
Keep dreaming C-3PO… #MondayMotivation #ZBOX pic.twitter.com/3Vs9F0vFYk
— The ZBOX (@The_ZBOX) 5 октября 2015
"Over the 40 years of Star Wars, international relations have been like this, and they will always go on like this," he said referring to the current tumultuous political situation.
"The thing about Star Wars, or art, or anything like that, is it’s humans talking to humans. Something like Stars Wars literally has made friends around the world.
"There are societies all around the planet who have something in common which has nothing to do with politics."
"Please invite me again," Daniels told Sputnik, adding that he thinks that this will not be his last visit to Moscow.
