Chris Bartlett: Performing Protocol Droids

It’s not very often that you see lifetime dedicated Star Wars fans actually becoming part of the galaxy far, far away in an impactful way. The journey of Chris Bartlett, from cosplayer of the 501st Legion to literally becoming C-3PO for media events and ultimately performing pretty much all the protocol droids (even some alien and human characters) in the Disney+ era of Star Wars, is inspirational to say the least. Through his numerous droid characters, Bartlett has truly brought that extra level of authenticity to both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett with familiar yet unique prop designs and physicality that are at the core of Star Wars.

After seeing the original movie in theaters when he was seven years old, Chris Bartlett’s imagination immediately sparked—from creating new adventures while playing with action figures to building homemade blasters pretending to have shootouts in Star Wars. For years, his love for the galaxy far, far away continued to fortify, reaching its peak when the prequels came out. That’s when Bartlett finally decided to assemble his very first stormtrooper costume, followed by building a Tusken Raider and Boba Fett—all as screen accurate as possible. With these designs under his belt, he decided to start going to conventions, where he could finally wear these characters. What Bartlett didn’t know was that his next creation would make his lifelong dream come true: becoming a professional actor. “I’ve never seen anyone do a chrome C-3PO, and so over the course of three years I secured copies of screen used parts. However, they were unwearable, so I worked with my partner who has a fiberglass shop on resculpting it. We had some help from Don Bies who’s the droid builder for the prequels and became good friends. Finally, after three years I had one that I could wear but it wasn’t chrome, just a kind of spray can gold that I weathered. Then someone at Lucasfilm who saw me at a past event I had done with the 501st invited me to Lucasfilm to finish building it and audition. I dreamed about it every day, working late in the evenings and weekends building my own stuff, but I never thought it would really happen because I’m just a regular guy,” Bartlett recalled.

Becoming C-3PO

The mysterious audition with Lucasfilm turned into a one of a kind opportunity: performing as C-3PO on television events. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to extend the life of this iconic character,” Bartlett said.

Becoming arguably the most recognizable and iconic Star Wars character (right next to his astromech counterpart, R2-D2) is no easy feat. Over the years, Bartlett has mastered the unique physicality of Threepio, referencing original performances on television and film: “I learned how the animation is different than a human, where every element of the droid, every joint, every limb is separate from the other. You wouldn’t have any big sweeping gestures, instead just move and terminate one movement after the other. If you understand that, then you can do a whole series of movements still feeling like it’s a droid instead of a human being.” Bartlett continued, “There’s a whole set of tricks that help the performance look like a droid, and you can do it without the costume on. It just took a lot of study and practice.”

Q9-0, aka “Zero”

Twelve years later and many memorable television appearances (especially at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016), Chris Bartlett’s career took yet another incredible turning point—this time entering the then secret production of The Mandalorian, doing a screen test for Q9-0, aka “Zero”. The bounty hunter droid appeared in Chapter 6: The Prisoner and soon became a fan favorite for his unique design (Dave Filoni revealed to Bartlett that Zero was a newer Death Star droid model with an RA-7 chest plate) and the iconic performances of Bartlett and voice actor Richard Ayoade. “I played [Zero] as kind of a bug, while adding a little bit of Boba Fett and Threepio. [Compared to C-3PO] he is a cold machine who was a mercenary, just out to do the job and get it done.” Bartlett added, “[The suit for] Zero was very comfortable. It was built by Legacy Effects and was just from the waist up; my legs were CG, allowing me the ability to sit down.”

What made Q9-0 even cooler was his impressive piloting skills—rivaling the greatest Star Wars pilots of all time (although not very fun for his crew). Chris Bartlett remembers getting familiar with the Razor Crest cockpit prior to shooting like it was yesterday, trying not to lose his mind over the surreal experience: “I did lose my mind but then as actors it’s a big responsibility to tell new Star Wars stories, and you have to try and contain yourself. It took me maybe a day to do that, but then you see the other actors around … they’re professionals and they’re maintaining their composure but afterwards were just like, ‘Oh man, this is so cool!’”

Stunts with RA-7

There are several factors to govern while acting in a droid suit, especially when it comes to stunts. Chris Bartlett shared a funny yet painful moment while doing his own stunts as the cantina bartender RA-7 droid on the set of The Mandalorian Chapter 7: The Reckoning: “I’m in a fiberglass costume and everywhere that the parts meet is a pinch point. So imagine dull knives pinching at your armpits, elbows, and the back of your legs … pretty much everywhere.” Bartlett continued, “I had to make it through a symphony of people flying through the air, pyro going off and sparks everywhere, and then I got shot and fell forward towards the camera on the pad. That did not go as planned [smiles]. I bumped into one of the stormtroopers on the first reel take and fell down hard on the ground, no pad. If you go back and watch that scene, you’ll see my legs fly up in the air [laughs]. The pain dissipates in a couple of days, but then when you see it on screen, it’s just so gratifying. You don’t remember any of the pain; it’s great.”

The Teacher Droid

Season Two of The Mandalorian continued to elevate Star Wars storytelling, creating new, unforgettable moments on screen while expanding the galaxy by combining new yet authentic characters and locales. Chapter 12: The Siege featured another believable performance by Chris Bartlett, who portrayed the Teacher Droid (voiced by Kathryn Elise Drexler) during the Child’s classroom day. The actor shared a fun and unexpected moment while working on set: “I was just doing C-3PO’s voice because back then it was the first time on The Mandalorian that anyone had seen anything that looked like the same model droid, and also because the kids would recognize and relate to my character. The funny part was when Mando walked over to me and took off his helmet. I realized it was Pedro [Pascal] and he went, ‘Have you done this before?’ By this time I’ve done C-3PO for twelve years, and I said, ‘Oh yeah, I mean, I’ve done it a few times,’ and he was like, ‘Oh, this is really great, I love it! I’m Pedro by the way.’ Because I’m usually in costume, he didn’t realize we’d worked together before.”

Traffic on Tatooine

Moving from The Mandalorian to The Book of Boba Fett, the spinoff show had its fair share of droids—from the uniquely designed Server Droid who worked in Garsa Fwip’s Sanctuary to the Traffic Droid during the speeder chase in the sandy streets of Tatooine, both performed by Chris Bartlett. The actor shared the development of the Traffic Droid from The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa, from adding distinct designs on the suit to waltzing on the road as the speeders zoom through the screen. “It was originally a shiny silver droid with no markings on it, and what I brought up to the director was that when you’re outside in dirt and sand a silver droid is going to reflect gold. I think that might be confusing to audiences, thinking that’s Threepio. I had to come up with some alternatives since we would be filming in two days. How can we make this not look like C-3PO? First, we’re gonna weather it, make it all super dirty. Second, I just offered some ideas and did four different concepts of markings for the face and arms. The inspiration came from warning traffic cones. I painted the head and hand plates, and the same delta stripes reversed out on the forearms. We decided to switch out the standard protocol droid chest for an RA-7’s. It’s fun to be able to mix-and-match to create unique droids. Of course, all design is under the direction of Doug Chiang—it’s a dream come true to be able to work with him.”

Bartlett explained, “Originally, [the droid] was supposed to be directing traffic, but then the director Robert Rodriguez changed it to be that he’s just caught in traffic instead to make it funnier, because there’s always a little humor in Star Wars. If you watch him, he’s a little bit goofy, unstable as he’s going out into traffic. The idea was for the droid to be caught in it and start spinning around.”

The Bounty Hunter Droid

Chris Bartlett’s exploration, development, and performance of protocol droids in Star Wars storytelling continues on in the highly anticipated Disney+ limited series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. In Part II of the show’s Season Premiere, the actor put on the suit of a brand-new character, 1-JAC, which many fans (including Bartlett himself) thought was the iconic bounty hunter droid 4-LOM from The Empire Strikes Back. Bartlett said, “When we first saw 4-LOM in the movie, he was just pretty much stationary. For 1-JAC, I imagined something like C-3PO, but more action oriented, very much like in the comics that have 4-LOM and Zuckuss. It definitely had to be 0% C-3PO and 100% bounty hunter—tailoring the suit so that I would have much more range of movement in the legs and arms. I was really excited to bring this character to life on television.”

The actor shared his involvement in the development of the look and presence for 1-JAC, from collaborating with the Lucasfilm Art Department led by Doug Chiang to ultimately creating a familiar yet brand-new character: “We started with an LOM-class droid and added holsters that are machined into his thighs. I wanted him to feel like a western gunslinger. As a performer in a protocol droid suit, I can’t lift up my arms in that angle to draw the blasters, therefore we modeled the holsters so that instead of being a pocket that you put a weapon in, we made it so the weapon could come out of the front. But in the end, the weapons were always shown out and ready for action.” Bartlett continued, “In terms of holding the blasters (which were custom, never before seen in Star Wars), I was thinking as a fan, ‘How would I pose an action figure of this character?’ Instead of holding them guns akimbo, what ended up being was a more staggered, asymmetrical look.”

Sadly, 1-JAC meets his untimely demise towards the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi Part II. Chris Bartlett shared a fascinating behind-the-scenes tidbit from that long day of shooting: “In the death scene I get shot, and so if I’m going to be deactivated then my eyes wouldn’t stay on. So I asked the prop department if we could make a switch that I could operate inside the costume to turn the eyes on and off. We ended up with a momentary switch, rigged it into the eyes and then put it in my mouth so that when I fall down after Haja shoots me for the last time, I can flicker the lights myself. The production and Deborah Chow didn’t know that I was doing that … They were trying to find the person operating in the eyes, but when they found out it was me, they were surprised [smiles] and pleased with the timing. It worked out really well.”

Portraying C-3PO in Obi-Wan Kenobi

After sixteen years and numerous media appearances as C-3PO, Chris Bartlett finally had the privilege of putting on the golden suit to perform the iconic droid in the first episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi (the character was voiced and credited to Anthony Daniels) during the banquet scene on Alderaan. “This is the first time that C-3PO would be in a Star Wars narrative on Disney+. I have played him for 16 years for television, and I was grateful for the opportunity to play him in Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Bartlett added, “This is also the first time that we’ve seen C-3PO in his element, in his primary function as an interpreter droid. It was just a dream to be able to finally have him in his comfort zone … there’s no threat of being disintegrated [laughs].”

The actor shared a fun and special moment while preparing to shoot the scene on the Alderaan set: “As a performer, I love creating little moments of magic. I came out on stage in full character as C-3PO so the whole cast and crew would be meeting Threepio for the first time in a way that it’s not just a person in a costume. I was pretending that I was lost, and said in my best Threepio voice, ‘Uh, is this a droid maintenance facility? Artoo, Artoo Deetoo, where are you?’ We had this swell of emotion because everyone is meeting Threepio, the character not Chris in a costume. That was really out of respect to this really iconic and beloved character—I was just trying to pay reverence to George Lucas’ creation. We’re playing pretend as actors and the people making these shows, and so I just wanted to play pretend for them also, creating this really fun emotion that flowed through the set, so that was really nice.”

Chris Bartlett ended the interview by reflecting on his overall experience working on Star Wars so far: “There’s so much love going into the creation of new narratives and new characters. Everyone wants to see things that feel familiar but are still new, and that’s what we’re trying to do. I’m so glad that people have responded so well to Obi-Wan Kenobi and the other Star Wars shows. There are so many more people that I’m good friends with on the shows that worked so hard physically and also creatively to bring these stories that will stay with you I hope for a long time. I’m really grateful to be part of Star Wars.”

With several iconic performances elevating the authenticity and richness of Star Wars television, it seems like Chris Bartlett will continue to bless the fans with new characters, droids and beyond. Make sure to follow him on Instagram to stay updated on his latest Star Wars performances.

DISCLAIMER: This interview was originally published by Fabio Fiori on TatooineTimes.com.