Star Wars’ Anthony Daniels wows FanX crowd in dynamic, non-traditional panel

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Anthony Daniels , known for playing C-3PO in the Star Wars movies, hosted a panel at FanX Thursday evening, only it didn’t look like a traditional panel.

The event began with a video introduction featuring comedic scenes of the golden ‘droid, after which Daniels entered the stage and immediately walked down the side of it.

Daniels spent all but the last three minutes of the hour-long panel in the crowd, receiving questions and commenting on people’s cosplay.

Audience member Janis Tate told ABC4 it felt warmer and more open than a typical panel as Daniels walked around the grand ballroom room and “became involved with the fans.”

“It shows he really, really appreciates our support in watching the movies,” Tate said.

The actor leaned on humor as he met with adults and children alike, refusing to answer some audience members’ questions if they were dressed in non-Star Wars related gear —or worse yet, as R2-D2.

“There is so many actors at this event. Huge, it’s one of the biggest shows I’ve ever been at,” he said right off the bat. “Some of my favorite people are here Susan Saradon, Mel Gibson, and just dozens of other people. But they weren’t in Star Wars. So they don’t really count.”

Daniels asked the crowd what they thought Star Wars was about. One person answered American mythology — a statement that left him comically speechless — and another shouted “good and evil” from the crowd.

“Star Wars people go on about the Force, light sabers … It is about the golden ‘droid who for nine films is bullied and humiliated,” Daniels said, which was met with loud laughter from the audience.

Daniels spoke on the pain of the C-3PO costume, saying at that time no one had ever tried to make a costume like that, and to make it appear robotic he had to hold his arms in painful positions.

“You did not want to see my body when I took that costume off. Well, you don’t want to see it anyway. And at the end of the day, I was covered in bruises and scars and whatever,” he said lightly. “Can I have a big “aww” for this pain and suffering?”

While it is no secret to fans that Daniels hated being inside the C-3PO costume, he raved about the character and the films themselves.

“I was enchanted by the script,” he said. “I love the character. I simply love the character. We all love him, don’t we?”

Daniels littered his comments with shameless plugs for his new book and jokes that even the younger audience members could understand.

He received all kinds of questions from the crowd, ranging from which movie was his favorite to if he ever had dreams of ewoks (the answer is yes, “nightmares.”) One person asked about the changing technology between the films, to which he said it changed “immensely” between each of the nine movies he participated in.

“Whether it’s the scene or the music, the thought, the emotions, the morals of it all, there’s something for everybody. And I’m amazed to have been a part of it” he said at the closing of the hour. “I didn’t want the interview for the job, and here I am nearly 50 years later standing at the height of my career in Salt Lake City with you.”

Attendee Lesley Shepherd said the panel exceeded her expectations, describing the night as “glorious.”

”It was amazing, I expected this prim, proper Englishman and he was warm, and kind,” Shepherd said. “I always loved C-3PO, now I adore the man.”

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