Comic Con Africa 2023 is just under a week away and fans will be able to meet and greet some incredible local and international celebrity guests attending the show this year. One of the biggest stars attending is none other than Star Wars veteran actor Anthony Daniels, best known for playing C-3PO – the only character to appear in all 11 theatrical movies in the series. This guest spotlight explores Daniels’ past and long career as a renowned figure in pop culture.
Anthony Daniels was born on 1 February 1946 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. He was a student at Giggleswick School and studied law for two years at university before dropping out to attend amateur dramatics at Rose Bruford College. Shortly after leaving the college, Daniels worked at BBC Radio and for the National Theatre of Great Britain at The Young Vic. It’s through his time working at the theatre that Daniels would be fated to meet with George Lucas.
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While attending the theatre, Daniels was invited to meet director George Lucas but he initially turned him down. However, he was later persuaded by his agent to meet Lucas regarding starring in a new sci-fi movie. At this time, the only sci-fi movie Daniels watched was 2001: A Space Odyssey – he left after 10 minutes and demanded his money back. Lucas encouraged Daniels to watch 2001 again to observe HAL 9000’s voice, in particular. Since then, he has admitted that Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic is a masterpiece.
Daniels auditioned for the role of C-3PO but only became fully convinced of the role after seeing a concept design of the golden droid from Ralph McQuarrie. He donned the suit for the movie but found it difficult to deliver his lines, though Lucas assured him that they would redub his dialogue in post-production. Of course, this little sci-fi space adventure was Star Wars and Daniels had no idea that it was about to become one of the biggest movies of all time.
Daniels would reprise his role as C-3PO in every Star Wars movie with the exception of Solo: A Star Wars Story where he played another character. In the original trilogy, Daniels performed while in the suit but in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, he only voiced the character as the droid was controlled by a puppeteer on set. He returned in-costume to play the character in its sequel, Attack of the Clones and later returned in costume and voice for the new Star Wars trilogy.
Since then, Daniels has played C-3PO in almost every piece of Star Wars media, from the movies to games and TV shows – his voice becoming one of the most recognisable in the entire franchise.
Apart from Star Wars fame, Daniels also voiced Legolas in the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings movie and appeared alongside Helen Mirren in the TV drama Prime Suspect.
Anthony Daniels will be attending Comic Con Africa 2023 for three days from 22-24 September 2023. Also read up on our previous guest spotlight, the original voice of Pokemon‘s Ash Ketchum, Veronica Taylor. Make sure you secure your tickets on Howler.
