The only actor to appear in all nine major Star Wars films

To provide clarity at the beginning, the nine main “Star Wars” films are the nine theatrically released live-action features with Roman numerals in the titles that make up what is known as the Skywalker Saga. It was released in parts of three, which is why they are referred to as three separate single trilogies. There are “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”, “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi”, which together make up what is known as the original trilogy. Next came Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which make up the prequel trilogy. Finally, there are “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens,” “Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi,” and “Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker,” which were produced after Disney bought the company. Lucasfilm in 2012. It was dubbed the sequel trilogy.

These titles should be clearly laid out, as an accomplished nerd will happily remind readers that there are many additional “Star Wars” films in the series. Some may consider “The Star Wars Holiday Special” a TV movie, while the Ewok films from 1984 and 1985 were released theatrically overseas. Some nerds might want to consider the 1986 animated TV special “Droids: The Great Heep” a sequel, however obscure. There’s also the animated film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” from 2008 (Which Star Wars creator George Lucas had to hand over to sell the “Clone Wars” TV show to Cartoon Network.), as well as the “Rogue One” and “Solo” spinoffs (both subtitled “A Star Wars Story”).

Finally, one could argue that there have been 16 Star Wars films in total.

For the purposes of this article, only films from the Skywalker Saga will be counted. In fact, as it happened, only one actor appeared in all nine of these films. That would be Anthony Daniels, the British actor who played the brass droid C-3PO. The character himself is a protocol bot often used to translate non-English and other languages ​​(although he has also been known to express eerie doubt about the adventures that lie ahead).

Before working on the “Star Wars” film series, Daniels was a voice actor for BBC Radio and appeared in numerous shows at London’s Young Vic Theatre. While working on projects there, Lucas (then a popular young director) approached him about appearing in his new science fiction film. Daniels admitted that he felt insulted by the offerThis is partly because he was not a fan of science fiction at the time. He decided to try out for the role of C-3PO anyway, with “A New Hope” becoming the actor’s first feature film.

Not only did Daniels get the job, but he would soon take on the bulk of his career, with C-3PO becoming his constant and regular representation for several decades. After all, Daniels spent most of his on-screen career wearing a face-obscuring robotic mask.

Not only has Daniels played the annoying droid in the nine main “Star Wars” films, he has also reprized the role in “Holiday Special,” “The Great Heep” and “Rogue One.” C-3PO wasn’t in Solo: A Star Wars Story, but Daniels appeared in it just the samehe plays a character named Tak.

The mainline “Star Wars” films, of course, only represent a small percentage of the times Daniels has played C-3PO. He also portrayed the robot in “Donny and Marie,” “The Muppet Show,” “Sesame Street,” and at the 50th Academy Awards, as well as “The LEGO Movie” and more than a dozen other TV shows. Off screen, he has narrated audio books as C-3PO, lent his voice to video games, appeared as himself in “Star Wars” documentaries, and done voice work on “Star Wars” theme park rides. He even played C-3PO in the very obscure 1980 record “Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album.” (Yes, this is real.)

Not only is Daniels the only actor to appear in the nine main Star Wars films, he’s also the most present actor in the franchise’s history. No other actor has gotten more work from Lucasfilm. Daniels, now 78, will likely don the C-3PO suit as long as he can get away with it.