Anthony Daniels on his tear-jerking 'Rise of Skywalker' trailer moment and the future of C-3PO

Kevin Polowy
·Senior Correspondent, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

"Taking one last look, sir, at my friends."

It was that line — from C-3PO of all people droids — that had Star Wars fans in tears when the final trailer for the saga-closing The Rise of Skywalker hit the web in October. And Anthony Daniels, the 73-year-old actor who has portrayed the beloved golden 'bot in all nine Skywalker Saga movies, plus spinoffs and television shows, admits he was right there with you (us).

"It got me, too," Daniels told Yahoo Entertainment during a recent interview where he was joined by Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo (watch above). "Isn't that weird?"

The scene also has Star Wars fans fearing the worst when it comes to the fate of the Anakin Skywalker-designed droid. Daniels, who, of course, wouldn't divulge too much about what happens to Threepio in Rise of Skywalker, is leaving the door open to portraying him in future projects.

"He will go on forever, I obviously won't," said Daniels, quoting his recent memoir I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story. "And that's fine, because he can't disappear from our universe. Because there are lots of other things besides films and so on. And yes, as actors say, 'We're discussing projects.'"

In the meantime, Daniels is excited about Threepio's role in Rise of Skywalker, which finds him back with the likes of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) after being sidelined as a glorified assistant to Carrie Fisher's General Leia Organa in 2017's The Last Jedi — "a table decoration" — as the actor has called it.

"We're back with Threepio being more in the center of the action, which I'm grateful to [screenwriter] Chris Terrio and, of course, [director J.J. Abrams], and he works better as part of a team," Daniels said. "And of course I had such fun doing it because there I am with Oscar and John and Daisy and so on, right in the thick of it."

"And Chewbacca," Suotamo interrupted.

"And Chewbacca," Daniels conceded.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens Friday, Dec. 20. Tickets now on sale via Fandango.

Watch Richard E. Grant tease a major character plot twist in Rise of Skywalker:

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