K-2SO is already one of the most talked about characters in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Considering R2-D2 and C-3PO are some of the most beloved characters in the franchise’s history, plus the addition of the adorable puppy like droid BB-8 from The Force Awakens, it comes as no great surprise. K-2SO was originally an Imperial security droid before he was reprogrammed by rebel recruiter Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). The sarcastic droid was brought to life through performance capture by Alan Tudyk (Firefly).
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tudyk dished on what it was like being on set in a motion capture suit alongside co-stars Felicity Jones and Diego Luna as they infiltrated the Empire to steal the plans to the galactic superweapon, the Death Star. The actor also took the opportunity to diss one of Star Wars’ other animated characters, the infamous Jar Jar Binks:
“It’s motion capture. So, you will hear my voice, but I was there for the whole thing. It was a blast. It’s basically acting, but you’re wearing a silly costume and the actual costume comes later in post. But, you’re working with the other actors so the lines change and you’re affected by their performance. You’re part of making the role and making the movie there on set as opposed to animation, which is very different. There’s one animated character that’s a good example of Star Wars animation gone bad which is Jar Jar Binks. He was 100 percent animated and it didn’t go well. It became cartoonish and I think a lot of that can be attributed to the way that it was done.”
Tudyk seems to be unaware that Jar Jar was brought to life by Ahmed Best in the exact same way that K-2SO was. By performing motion capture on set. In fact, it was Jar Jar Binks who paved the way for motion capture characters such Gollem in Lord of the Rings, Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and most recently Supreme Leader Snoke in The Force Awakens. All whom of which happen to be played by the king of motion capture Andy Serkis.
While speaking about the personality of K-2SO, Tudyk was asked whether or not it was difficult to distinguish K-2SO from the other droids in the Star Wars franchise:
“No, it was written really distinctly. He’s very different from the others because he comes from the Empire. He’s a security droid, so he can be an intimidating force and can be enforcing. Some people call him an enforcer droid, which seems appropriate. And he’s a spy and a soldier. Playing a droid also gives you the possibility to pop up in other Star Wars films since they don’t age like the human characters.”
If the personality for K-2SO was carved in stone on the page, then it would seem as if the role was written for Tudyk. The actor has lent his talented comedy chops to the character and already become an iconic Star Wars character before the film’s release.
Based off his comment about droids not aging like human characters, Tudyk was also asked whether or not K-2SO could appear in other Star Wars films to which the actor gave a professional albeit typical actor response to the question:
I’m doing my best. (Laughs) Sure, why not? All these worlds are intertwined. It’s exciting to me what they’re doing with these stand-alones. You can criss-cross those timelines at any point. They’re creating them. They’re giving these backstories to characters and filling in blank spots like ours.
Tudyk answered the question the way any professional actor would respond. Who wouldn’t want themselves to pop up in other Star Wars films? I’m not saying it’s impossible, nothing is impossible at this point. But take this with a grain of salt because Rogue One is probably the only time we are going to see K-2SO.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16, 2016.
Produced by Lucasfilm, the film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelson, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. Directed by Garreth Edwards.
From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves. In theaters December 2016.
SOURCE: THR
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