One of the biggest surprises about Star Wars: Ahsoka was that it featured a brief appearance by Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, which was ultimately longer in the episode than was originally intended, but Daniels recently recalled how he tried to extend the sequence further by paying respects to Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Alec Guinness. In Episode 7 of the series, C-3PO lends assistance to Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in a courtroom scene, with Daniels confirming he snuck the line “You don’t need to see my identification” into the scene in honor of Guinness saying a similar line in Star Wars: A New Hope, though the dialogue ultimately was cut from the scene.
“About a year ago or whatever, suddenly [Lucasfilm] rang me up and said, would I be in an episode of Ahsoka. I was thrilled to be asked, and I had the most wonderful time out there in Southern California, it was a beautiful studio. It’s got to be the best episode of Ahsoka ever, just saying,” Daniels revealed at Orlando’s MEGACON, per PopVerse. “Threepio comes in, and there’s a large courtroom scene going on. And here, I did something rather clever.”
He continued, “Dave Filoni and I had a script conference on Zoom. Basically, the scene was Threepio walks in, says something, and then walks out. If you ever watch that scene again, Threepio comes in at the back of the set, and there were two guards. I came up with a line, which I totally stole from Episode IV with Sir Alec Guinness. I tell the guards, ‘You don’t need to see my identification.’ That was a straight steal.”
While it’s not entirely surprising that Daniels appeared as C-3PO, given that he appeared in all nine live-action Skywalker Saga films, as well as having cameos in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story, this was the first time C-3PO delivered dialogue in a Star Wars TV series for Disney+. The iconic droid did appear in 2022’s Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, but it was a non-speaking appearance.
“Never thought Threepio would have the honor to appear in the rightly lauded, Ahsoka,” Daniels wrote on social media following his cameo. “So we were both surprised to get a call from the Master himself, Dave Filoni. And then, there we were, enveloped by the utterly compelling FX of The Volume. And there they were, the dedicated crew and the cast of lovely and talented humans, and droids.”
He continued, “3PO and I have rarely had such an enthusiastic welcome, nor such loving support throughout our days on set. I hear that fans were moved to tears by seeing their golden friend, once again on screen. I was equally moved by the surprise ovation from the assembled team, as I finally emerged from that iconic figure. Maybe this is a good time to thank them and so many millions, for the love they have shown my friend over so many years. So… on his behalf… Thank you.”
A Season 2 of Star Wars: Ahsoka is on the way from Lucasfilm.
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