I Am C-3PO

Book 6 of my 2020 Reading Challenge

read from January 17 - 23

I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story

by Anthony Daniels

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2019

Actor Anthony Daniels first set eyes on the droid that would change his life in George Lucas' office in 1975. This encounter would lead to the role of a lifetime and the creation of an icon.

Daniels tells a riveting, humorous and often moving tale of life on (and off) the sets of all nine Star Wars movies, including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, giving fascinating new insights into that galaxy far, far away.

Working with George Lucas and J.J. Abrams, encounters with legends like Sir Alec Guinness and the experience of being enclosed in a hard shell for countless hours - Daniels' story promises insights even ardent fans have never heard before.

My Opinion

3 stars

I can't speak to the claim on the book jacket of "insights even ardent fans have never heard before" because I'm nowhere near an ardent fan. I'm not even a casual fan because I've never seen the movies.  I haven't actively avoided seeing them but I'm not much of a movie watcher in general and my husband, a huge fan, has friends who share his passion and he would much rather share those experiences with them.  That being said, I haven't been living under a rock my entire life so I was familiar enough with the people and scenes to picture what he was talking about.  Plus actual pictures helped - there were so many photos included which is always a personal plus for me when reading a memoir.

The parts about the first trilogy were really interesting.  The parts about the second trilogy dragged for multiple reasons.  He was jaded and liked that experience the least and it was all digital so there wasn't much to say about the performance anyway.  The parts about the third trilogy were an improvement over the second but not as good as the first because of all the talk about merchandising and him sounded pretty entitled about the character.  I guess it would come naturally after playing a part for 40+ years, especially when he wasn't appreciated for all of his physical work during the first trilogy, but I can imagine him being a little insufferable on the set sometimes.