Anthony Daniels Discusses C-3PO's Red Eyes in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER and Says It's a "Magnificent Piece of Storytelling"
During Disney D23 Expo last month, Lucasfilm shared some exciting new footage from director J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. That trailer included an interesting shot of C-3PO with red eyes. We don’t really know what exactly that means, but it has a lot of fans speculating.
In a recent episode of The Star Wars Show, actor Anthony Daniels teased that this surprising new aspect of C-3PO is a “magnificent piece of storytelling.” He explains:
"That was so weird, because they had rigged me up with a special thing, and to look at myself in the mirror, it was scary. It's a magnificent piece of storytelling that really took me by surprise."
Some fans thought that the red-eyed droid we were seeing in the trailer was not C-3PO and that it was instead the debut of the protocol droid Triple-Zero from the Marvel Comics series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. But no, that is C-3PO.
The droid actually has a much bigger role in the story and Daniels told the Associated Press, “I’m front and center in this one, for a lot of it, and that made me feel very happy and very excited. Because the stuff we do is magic, the inventiveness, superb. And so, for me, and for Threepio, this is a very good bye-bye moment. Enjoy.”
When talking about saying goodbye to the character after all these years, Daniels told Variety:
“It was difficult not to tear up a bit. Partly because [director] J.J. [Abrams] said some really nice things and all the crew were listening and watching. I have to admit it was an emotional moment, but I knew it was coming. It wasn’t even a scene in which I said anything. For once, Threepio was in a scene without butting in. But I felt it’s such a terrific movie that I thought it was okay to say goodbye. I feel satisfied with this one. I have something to be proud of that, you know, as I say goodbye.”
What do you all think is up with C-3PO’s red eyes? Does it have something to do with the Sith? Was something secretly programmed in him early on in his Star Wars journey?
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lands in theaters on December 20th.
