The actor behind the new droid in 'Rogue One' acted on stilts for the entire movie
The INSIDER Summary:
K-2SO is a new robot you'll see in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
It's crazy to see what the character looked like prior to CGI.
Actor Alan Tudyk stood on stilts for most of filming.
From R2-D2 to C-3PO to BB-8, "Star Wars" has created some of the galaxy's most beloved robots.
In "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," there's a new bot for fans to fall in love with.
Actor Alan Tudyk, best known for his role as Wash in the cult favorite TV series "Firefly," plays K-2SO, the franchise's latest lovable droid. K-2 is an imperial droid reprogrammed by Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) so he can fight alongside the Empire.
K-2SO is a standout in "Rogue One," and the much-needed comic relief in the otherwise dark spinoff. And while "Rogue One" often relies on puppets and people in costume, K-2SO is a work of motion capture. It combines Tudyk's sense of humor with the wonders of CG.
This isn't Tudyk's first time playing a bot. He previously played one in 2004's "I, Robot." However, K-2SO presented Tudyk with a unique challenge: he's a tall, lanky machine. During a panel at New York Comic Con back in October, Tudyk discussed how instead of wearing a robotic suit, he wore a motion-capture suit while performing on stilts to bring the character to life:
Since Tudyk had to act on stilts, it could make the more physical parts of his performance rather difficult.
"They [the stilts] were a foot high because the character's very tall and lanky," Tudyk told the crowd. "There were times I had to run and...I stood on a cliff. You could see it in one of the teasers."
It's why he towers over his co-stars Felicity Jones and Diego Luna.
To give a better sense of where exactly K-2SO's face would be, Tudyk wore a fake face on top of his head during production.
Sometimes he also wore these mechanical claws for K-2's hands:
Even though he had to wear the motion capture suit, Tudyk still looks like he had a blast:
And, in case you were wondering, this how Tudyk, the man behind the machine, actually looks next to his robot counterpart:
Check out some awesome behind the scenes footage below. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is now out in theaters.