It's hard to believe that it has almost been a year since Star Wars: The Force Awakens flew into theaters and reignited the franchise's rabid fanbase. The latest installment in the galaxy far, far away introduced a ton of new characters who united with old heroes Luke, Han, and Leia. And although newcomers like Rey and Finn are welcomed additions to the franchise, we all know who the real star was. That's right, I'm talking about everyone's favorite sphere droid BB-8. We had previously learned that comedians Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) and Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) had helped voice the little droid, and now we can see the magic in action.
In preparation for the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Collectors Edition, some clips from the special features have been shared over on the official Star Wars Twitter. One of these clips goes into voicing BB-8, including a clip of Ben Schwartz reading the droid's lines. Check it out.
Pretty awesome, right?
While we had previously heard that Ben Schwartz and Bill Hader helped to voice BB-8, it was a puzzling idea. What work could they possibly have done? Did they decided which beeps the droid used to communicate? How did more than one of them do this job? A year later, things are finally starting to make sense.
In the above video, we see how Ben Schwartz was actually the first voice actor to lend a hand in The Force Awakens. Schwartz would watch the footage and fill in BB-8's thoughts and dialogue during the film's events. Despite the audience only hearing beeps, moviegoers knew exactly what BB-8 was trying to say to the human characters. And apparently Jean-Ralphio Saperstein is the man behind it all.
After Ben Schwartz recorded his dialogue, things were reworked a bit and SNL alum Bill Hader was brought in. While Hader was in the booth, J.J. Abrams and the sound guys would manipulate his dialogue to make it sound like more robotic noises. Unfortunately, we weren't shown any clips of Hader recording, so it's unclear if he was speaking actual dialogue like Schwartz or just making noises that would be easier to manipulate. Perhaps more is revealed in the actual segment.
It should be interesting to see how BB-8 functions in further Star Wars movies, especially since R2-D2 is finally awake. Will the two have beeping shouting matches, with C-3PO attempting to mediate? Will someone be coming in to voice R2?
Keep it here at CinemaBlend for updated on all things Star Wars. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will fly into theaters on December 16th, 2016.
