Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels has said he almost quit shooting the films because of the physical pain of the experience and his dislike of the sand.
The 79-year-old is the only actor to have appeared or been involved with every theatrical release in the saga, as well as countless spin-offs. Playing C-3PO, he joined the franchise from its very first release after being approached by creator George Lucas in 1975.
But despite his success, (last year, a C-3PO head from Daniels’ private collection sold for £660,000), he said that the role did not come without its challenges.
Daniels almost quit on the first day of filming because of the heat and sand. The first film he starred in, Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope), was released in 1977 and shot in the Tunisian desert.
Finding it difficult to wear the costume, which was made of fibreglass, vacuum-metalised aluminium, brass, and plastic, and was reported to be very heavy, Daniels almost gave up.
“At one point I began to lose the nerves in this arm because they were getting squished by that,” he told a crowd at FanX Salt Lake Pop Culture & Comic Convention, according to PopVerse.
“On the first day I wore that costume all day. It took two hours to put on. They weren’t about to take it off at lunchtime, and I stood in the desert, by myself, whilst the crew went over there to have lunch, and drink things, and go to the bathroom, and I stood there looking at the desert, thinking, ‘This is the first day. Can I resign? Is there a local cab firm?’ We were in the middle of the desert. There was no escape for the droid this time.”
However, Daniels stuck it out, and the films went on to be one of the highest-grossing and most popular in history. His experience as C-3PO became the subject of a memoir titled, I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story.
“I put up with it,” he continued. “The second day I said, ‘You have to take it off at lunchtime, I’m exhausted. I can’t stretch my legs. I’ve got to sit down. I’ve got to eat, and I’ve got to do the other thing.’”
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But the experience came with some slight injuries. “You did not want to see my body when I took that costume off,” he said. “At the end of the day, I was covered in bruises and scars and whatever.”
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