Star Wars actor Alan Tudyk on why we all loved Kaytoo
NO ONE wants to be associated with Jar Jar Binks, the scourge of the Star Wars universe, and Alan Tudyk’s fear was real.
BEFORE the release of Rogue One, Alan Tudyk was terrified of becoming the next Jar Jar Binks.
For the uninitiated, Mr Binks has come to represent all that is wrong with the Star Wars prequels and is routinely savaged as the most annoying character in the entire franchise.
So, being lumped in with Jar Jar Binks? That’s not an honour you aspire to.
Happily, that hideous possibility did not come to pass. When Rogue One was released at the end of last year, K2-SO, the wry, reprogrammed security droid, was an immediate hit with fans and critics. It wouldn’t be out of this world to say Kaytoo, as he’s affectionately known, was a favourite.
Tudyk, the American actor who voiced and played Kaytoo through motion capture technology, understands why the droid was so popular.
“He was funny without being a comic character in a movie that was pretty dark,” Tudyk tells news.com.au. “The levity he brought was appreciated. He was involved in a lot of funny moments.
“He wasn’t trying to be funny, he was just a funny character because he was so honest in moments that it was incongruous with what was happening.”
Tudyk said that droids that came before Kaytoo, especially C3PO, set the precedent for his robot character to show a bit of personality, which in Kaytoo’s case meant his occasional petulance.
“C3PO had so much emotion, he’s always at such a high pitch,” he says. “He’s always flustered or cross. So it gave me the freedom to be that as well in [certain] moments. It definitely came across when [spoiler alert] he was dying. His goodbyes were very heartfelt.
“I’m sure if C3PO ever died, it would be very heartfelt as well.”
Kaytoo wasn’t the first time Tudyk donned a motion capture suit to play a robot — he was also Sonny opposite Will Smith in 2004’s I, Robot.
But it’s not his prolific robot roles that have made Tudyk a fan favourite. It was his break-out role as the affable Wash in Joss Whedon’s short-lived cult series Firefly that put Tudyk on the map.
He’s currently starring in a DC Comics workplace sitcom called Powerless and had memorable turns in Dodgeball, Suburgatory and Death at a Funeral as well as many high profile voice credits in films including Frozen, Moana, Big Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph and Ice Age.
Tudyk also revisited the Whedonverse as Alpha in Dollhouse.
All of his work, especially in genre shows and films, has made Tudyk a regular of the fan convention circuit. Drawing on his bizarre experiences, Tudyk created his own web series, Con Man, starring alongside buddy and Firefly co-star Nathan Fillion.
His character in Con Man, Wray Nerely, is loosely based on Tudyk’s career, but is much less successful. Wray is someone who briefly found fame playing the pilot of a spaceship (like Wash) in a short-lived but beloved sci-fi series.
Now that he’s part of the Star Wars universe, the DC universe and continues to court the obsessive fans of the Whedonverse, Tudyk will have a wealth of odd interactions to draw inspiration from for the next season of Con Man.
Since the release of Star Wars, Tudyk has been to one convention.
“I went to a Portland convention and it was terrible so there’s definitely a lot there for Con Man,” he says. “The way they’re terrible is the way they’re run. Kato Kaelin was there. Do you know who he is? He’s the guy that lived in O.J.’s guesthouse and became a kind of odd celebrity only in that he wrapped up in a murder and he was useless on the stand.
“I was at this convention next to him and I was like, ‘what the hell happened to my career?’ That was terrible so that should be written into a Con Man episode.
“At every convention there’s going to be something.”
But not every convention is bad. Tudyk has been to Australia for similar events and loves it here. During his 2013 convention visits down under, he met Star Wars legend, the late Carrie Fisher.
“I got to know her for two weeks,” he remembers. “We had a blast. I’m so happy now that I did get to have that time with her. She was so sassy, I loved her personality.”
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be released on digital on-demand, DVD and Blu-ray on April 5.
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Originally published as Star Wars actor Alan Tudyk on why we all loved Kaytoo