Anthony Daniels reckons he’s quite similar to Star Wars droid C-3PO

Back when Star Wars’ most divisive entry The Last Jedi was being filmed, our very own Adrian Lobb spent the week with Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker told him: “Anthony Daniels is a lot more like his character than you would imagine, he is a little bit prickly”.

Fast-forward to the closing film in the 40-plus year-old saga – The Rise of Skywalker – and we’re chatting to the only actor to feature in every one of the 10 films in this week’s Big Issue.

So it’s only right that we asked Daniels, who plays the melodramatic golden protocol droid C-3PO, whether he felt there were any similarities between him and the character that has made him such a Hollywood star.

“Threepio is a bit impatient, partly because people never listen to him,” he tells The Big Issue. “I myself am a little impatient. He is kind and caring and these are two qualities I would like to be known as… as well as being impatient.”

And it would appear those similarities are not just (metal) skin deep. Back when Star Wars was yet to become the cinema powerhouse and cultural event it is today, Daniels was fooling the masses into thinking he was a real robot with his C-3PO costume.

“I do take it as something of a compliment,” he says. “I was pretending to be a robot and they believed me. I used to say to Mark Hamill, jokingly in the desert, you don’t have to act here because if I’m in the scene all I have to do is wobble a bit and everyone will just look at me.”

For more from Anthony Daniels, get your copy of this week’s Big Issue magazine, available now from vendors and The Big Issue Shop.

I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story by Anthony Daniels is out now (DK, £18.99, also available in audio). Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in cinemas from December 19