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Star Wars: Anthony Daniels Slates Prequel's “Awful” CGI C-3PO

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Anthony Daniels, the lithe British thesp who has portrayed protocol droid C-3PO in six ‘Star Wars’ films, has criticised the CGI version of his character that appeared in the prequels.

The actor, who is returning to play Threepio in ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’, told Entertainment Weekly, “[During the prequels], the only time [Threepio has] been CG was when it was very dangerous [to act in the scene in a suit] — and it wasn’t very good. In fact, I’m going to say it was awful.”

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The most memorable use of a computer-generated C-3PO came during the droid factory sequence in ‘Episode II: Attack of the Clones’ which saw the uptight robot lose his head in a frantic action sequence.

Of course, Daniels WOULD extol the virtues of a practical Threepio on set, after all, the role has been his bread and butter for over thirty years, but watching that sequence back, you realise he might have a point.

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"One of the difficulties is with a character that you know and love so well is that, as a member of the audience, you go, ‘Oh no, that’s not right. No, he doesn’t move like that.’” he adds.

"With me [in the suit], he’s always going to move the same way and have the same reactions, timing, and so on.”

The 68-year-old also revealed that he only agreed to return for ‘Episode VII’ on the proviso that he could don the suit once again, after Abrams originally only offered a voice role.

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“When J.J. Abrams rang me to ask about filming Episode VII, one of the first things he said after he told me how wonderful I was — and that didn’t take long — but he then said, “Would you be interested in being in the film just doing the voice?” I said, “No,” and he said, “Right!” He knew I’d say that. There’s no way I would just do the voice.”

The production team have built a new, more practical, Threepio costume for ’Star Wars: Episode VII’ at Daniels’ request. “I also said that it can’t be the same suit. I will tell you that the team then got together and built a new suit. They made an entirely new look-a-like with changes that you will never notice [on screen] that made my life a lot easier.”

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Above: Threepio and Artoo in ‘Star Wars: Rebels’

Despite the actor’s complaints about computer-generated characters, the next time we’ll see him play C-3PO is in ’Star Wars: Rebels’, Disney’s CGI-animated series which kicks off this October on Disney XD, a show which Daniels says harks back to the series’ glory days.

"Rebels is an old fashion link to the old fashion film, which we all loved. And you will love ‘Episode VII’ — I have electrodes strapped to my head to zap me if I say anything more about it.”

‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ is in cinemas 18 December, 2015.

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Image credit: 20th Century Fox/Press Association/Disney XD