Warning: spoilers ahead for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! Don't read ahead if you haven't seen the latest adventure in the galaxy far, far away!
Although Rogue One: A Star Wars Story admittedly skimped on character in favorite of continuity, one member of the film's central, rebellious ensemble has already carved out a legacy as a Star Wars classic: K-2SO. Alan Tudyk's sassy Imperial droid stole every scene in the movie and undeniably left us wanting more. Very little of the character's backstory was revealed during Rogue One, but Tudyk seems to believe that the reprogrammed droid's existence was tantamount to slavery before he joined the Rebellion. Tudyk explained:
The backstory was pretty limited. Knowing that he was in the Empire, he was sort of reborn when Cassian gave him his reprogramming. He was enslaved, in a way. He was more of a stoic character. He had to follow orders. Basically, he just scurried around. He did lots of security stuff. He had a big bunch of keys that hung off his belt.
Alan Tudyk recently spoke to Comicbook.com about K-2SO's life before joining the Rebels in the war against the Empire, and it doesn't sound like he was too much of a talker during that period in his life. Although Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) allowed him to have a much more vibrant personality, his Imperial masters were far stricter and kept him in line with boring security detail at less than vital locations. He was likely very prim and proper (not unlike C-3PO) and relished the opportunity to get his hands a bit dirty when the opportunity presented itself to him.
We're just glad that Kaytoo dropped the whole "stoic" act by the time he hooked up with Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) to take down the Death Star. His colorfully cynical personality easily stood out as one of the highlights of the recent Star Wars film, and Alan Tudyk deserves quite a bit of credit for making the (literally) robotic character feels so human. However, the design of the character also played a significant role in conveying his evolution from his days under the Empire's thumb. Compared to the other Imperial droids in Rogue One, Kaytoo is considerably more scratched and dented, which further adds to the idea that he has lived an entire life since his liberation.
Check out some of Kaytoo's best moments from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story below for a reminder as to why we love that Star Wars droid so much.
While Alan Tudyk's description of K-2SO's old life doesn't sound entirely glamorous, we will have to wait and see if any future films or projects in the Star Wars franchise will delve further into his story. The Rogue One Blu-ray is currently available, and Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi will hit theaters later this year on December 15.
