Posts Tagged ‘Rey’

METRO In Focus: The voice of ‘We’re doomed!’: Talking to to Anthony Daniels, aka C-3PO

Screen Shot 2015-12-13 at 10.52.17 AMBy Richard Crouse – Metro In Focus

Having one of the most recognizable voices in movie history can lead to some surreal moments. Just ask Anthony Daniels. He’s played C-3PO in all seven Star Wars films, including this weekend’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens and once rented a car with a very familiar voice on the GPS.

“I felt uncomfortable with me —very clearly — giving me instruction for something I didn’t know. I found it quite bizarre. I was driving thinking, ‘This is unnatural.’”
Other times the voice, which in real life is less mannered than his on-screen counterpart, brings him unexpected recognition.

For some of his fans, seeing isn’t believing — hearing is.

“One of the most charming things that happens to me is when an adult will bring a child to me and say, ‘He doesn’t believe you’re C-3PO.’

“And why would he? I’m some old guy with white hair. Then I do the voice. You see the sound go in one ear and then there is an absolutely realistic time delay whilst the synapses process this. Nothing happens for a second-and-a-half, then suddenly there’s a smile and excitement. I love that delay while they process it. You couldn’t buy that. I’ve been given that and it gives me utter joy because it is without guile. It is just an honest recognition of something I did.”

A week before Daniels trekked to Tunisia in 1976 to begin shooting the sci-fi space opera, he was a stage actor performing in Tom Stoppard’s absurdist play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

“It’s about two nobodies,” he says. “Rosencrantz is a bit gung ho, (he) doesn’t think. Doesn’t work things out really; just goes for the main thing. His friend Guildenstern is much more reserved, much more intellectual. He thinks about things. Worries about things.

“There I am a week later playing C-3PO in the desert with R2D2. I would say it was three or four years later that something in my brain went, ‘Wait a minute, R2 and 3PO are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.’ There is a nice synergy there, or connection I think. 3PO is the clever one and R2 is the gung ho one. They’re odd couple buddies. It is a great dynamic to act off.”

Today C-3PO and R2D2 are seen as a classic combo, but during filming, Daniels had his doubts it would work.

“The problem for me was R2D2 never made any sounds so I was playing off myself. Not to aggrandize myself, but it was quite a challenge. It was a bit like a terrible Whose Line Is It Anyway? where you pretend a chair is your best friend.

“When I saw the final movie and there were R2’s beeps and responses, to me it was total magic because that was the first time I ever saw it. They had woven a conversation after the fact.”

Playing the golden droid has been a lifelong career for Daniels. The 69-year-old actor was just 30 years old when he first donned C-3PO’s suit and has since appeared in person or voice in dozens of movies, television shows, commercials, PSAs and live events as the character. He’s even in the legendary The Star Wars Holiday Special and says he’s been “very lucky to be given the chance” to play C-3PO but calls that his “business life.”

“I don’t go around saying, ‘Do you know who I am?’

When I suggest he could at least use his fame and the C-3PO voice to get great tables in restaurants he says, “No, no, no. Then they’d say there’s no table tonight or tomorrow. I don’t think people would be too terribly impressed to have me in the restaurant. Were I to enter in a gold suit then I could have the entire room to myself!”

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: 4 ½ STARS. “IT’S A BLAST, NOSTALGIC AND OTHERWISE.”

Screen Shot 2015-12-13 at 10.54.44 AMThere’s good news for Star Wars fans. The initials in director J.J. Abrams’s name definitely do not stand for Jar Jar. His take on the “Star Wars” universe does everything the much-maligned prequels did not; that is it focuses on character and adventure not treaties or political dealings. It delivers a nostalgic blast while at the same time offering a new hope that the series can be freshened up.

Set thirty years after “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” and the defeat of the Galactic Empire, “The Force Awakens” sees Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and a new set of allies—including scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) an AWOL Stormtrooper and budding resistance fighter, daredevil pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and the lovable basketball-shaped droid BB-8—battle against “a dark shadow spreading across the galaxy,” Darth Vader wannabe Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). They all have one goal in common, to locate missing Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

That’s it, just a barebones synopsis with no spoilers. I’m going to leave you to discover “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” with fresh eyes because for the first time in over thirty years there is a “Star Wars” movie that delivers the same kind of wide-eyed joy as Lucas last delivered when Luke still had two hands.

Abrams gets away from the political bafflegab that made the prequels such a chore. Instead he returns to the basics, good vs. evil, fathers and sons, keeping it on track as an action-adventure with great characters.

Rey is the female lead everyone has been waiting for Marvel to make a movie about. Abrams beat them to the punch. She’s powerful, human, self sufficient—“Don’t take my hand,” she snarls at Finn as he tries to lead her to safety—and would never even consider wearing a gold bikini.

As a Stormtrooper who finds redemption Finn is the catalyst for much of the film’s action. He’s a little bit goofy, a lot brave and in over his head but because he thinks with his heart and not his head he’s a welcome, charming presence.

Poe Dameron has the swagger of a young Han Solo while BB-8 has personality plus and purrs like a cat. Kylo Ren, on the other hand, is a robed evildoer prone to childish temper tantrums.

Connecting these new characters to the universe are legends from the past, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia (Carrie Fisher).

Teaming Solo, Chewie and the Millennium Falcon provides an undeniable nostalgic rush but they are here as more than just cameos to pay tribute to the past. Ford’s Spencer Tracy-esque vibe allows him the gravitas to utter lines like “The galaxy is counting on us,” while sidekick Chewie says much without actually speaking words. Leia has a smaller role, but it’s a blast to see Ford and Fisher, both looking age appropriate, together again.

Their first meeting exemplifies the movie’s playful tone. “You’ve changed your hair,” Hans says to his old flame, noticing her famous bagel hair buns are gone. What could have been a grand reunion is underplayed and instead the call back to the past is presented as a warm moment between two old friends.

It’s that kind of warmth and humanity that separates “The Force Awakens” from other big budget blockbuster entertainment. The finale is big and loud like the Marvel movies but unlike “The Avengers” films Abrams keeps the emotional core alive right up until the end. It’s the right mix of space-opera-cool and character that will please the hard-core fans that see this as just another piece of a much larger puzzle but also works as a standalone story as well.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is a blast, nostalgic and otherwise.

Check out Richard’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” review in today’s Metro!

Screen Shot 2015-12-16 at 6.17.25 AMCheck out Richard’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” review in today’s Metro!

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: 4 ½ STARS. “it’s a blast, nostalgic and otherwise.”

There’s good news for Star Wars fans. The initials in director J.J. Abrams’s name definitely do not stand for Jar Jar. His take on the “Star Wars” universe does everything the much-maligned prequels did not; that is it focuses on character and adventure not treaties or political dealings. It delivers a nostalgic blast while at the same time offering a new hope that the series can be freshened up.

Set thirty years after “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” and the defeat of the Galactic Empire, “The Force Awakens” sees Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and a new set of allies—including scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) an AWOL Stormtrooper and budding resistance fighter, daredevil pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and the lovable basketball-shaped droid BB-8—battle against “a dark shadow spreading across the galaxy,” Darth Vader wannabe Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). They all have one goal in common, to locate missing Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

That’s it, just a barebones synopsis with no spoilers. I’m going to leave you to discover “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” with fresh eyes because for the first time in over thirty years there is a “Star Wars” movie that delivers the same kind of wide-eyed joy as Lucas last delivered when Luke still had two hands.

Abrams gets away from the political bafflegab that made the prequels such a chore. Instead he returns to the basics, good vs. evil, fathers and sons, keeping it on track as an action-adventure with great characters.

Rey is the female lead everyone has been waiting for Marvel to make a movie about. Abrams beat them to the punch. She’s powerful, human, self sufficient—“Don’t take my hand,” she snarls at Finn as he tries to lead her to safety—and would never even consider wearing a gold bikini.

As a Stormtrooper who finds redemption Finn is the catalyst for much of the film’s action. He’s a little bit goofy, a lot brave and in over his head but because he thinks with his heart and not his head he’s a welcome, charming presence.

Poe Dameron has the swagger of a young Han Solo while BB-8 has personality plus and purrs like a cat. Kylo Ren, on the other hand, is a robed evildoer prone to childish temper tantrums.

Connecting these new characters to the universe are legends from the past, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia (Carrie Fisher).

Teaming Solo, Chewie and the Millennium Falcon provides an undeniable nostalgic rush but they are here as more than just cameos to pay tribute to the past. Ford’s Spencer Tracy-esque vibe allows him the gravitas to utter lines like “The galaxy is counting on us,” while sidekick Chewie says much without actually speaking words. Leia has a smaller role, but it’s a blast to see Ford and Fisher, both looking age appropriate, together again.

Their first meeting exemplifies the movie’s playful tone. “You’ve changed your hair,” Hans says to his old flame, noticing her famous bagel hair buns are gone. What could have been a grand reunion is underplayed and instead the call back to the past is presented as a warm moment between two old friends.

It’s that kind of warmth and humanity that separates “The Force Awakens” from other big budget blockbuster entertainment. The finale is big and loud like the Marvel movies but unlike “The Avengers” films Abrams keeps the emotional core alive right up until the end. It’s the right mix of space-opera-cool and character that will please the hard-core fans that see this as just another piece of a much larger puzzle but also works as a standalone story as well.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is a blast, nostalgic and otherwise.