One of the treats of this year was seeing Anthony Daniels and Brian Herring rib each other and tell fascinating stories onstage at the Southbank Centre, and the Southbank Centre have released the audio from the night – which we reviewed here – and it’s well worth a listen.
During London Literature Festival 2019 we were delighted to welcome Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels, as he joined puppeteer Brian Herring to talk about his new memoir I Am C-3PO. In this podcast, recorded at their live Queen Elizabeth Hall talk, Daniels fondly reminisces about his time playing one of the most famous droids in cinematic history.
In this must listen for Star Wars fans, Daniels reveals he was kept away from the press and publicity of the early movies, in order to maintain the illusion that C-3PO was an actual robot. He also explains how the emergence of green screen technology fed the resurgence of Star Wars and the prequel trilogy, yet the real thrill for actors came from appearing on real scenery.
Prompted by Herring – himself the lead puppeteer for rolling droid BB-8 in the Star Wars sequel trilogy – Daniels also discusses the trials of portraying emotion as a robot whose expression never changes, the challenges of working with non-speaking robot co-stars and incredibly enthusiastic directors alike, and how he feels about the likely end of the Star Wars series of films.
