R2-D2: Beneath the Dome | movie | 2001 | Official Featurette
Mockumentary telling the never before told life story of the fictional robot R2-D2 from the Star Wars film series. The m | dG1fWEtpcFllVlNuOHM
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 ("The Star-Spangled Banner" playing)
00:07 A story of passion.
00:08 You're a feisty little one.
00:10 Of tenderness.
00:12 I've never seen such devotion in a droid before.
00:14 Of courage.
00:15 That little droid did it!
00:26 This fall, Lucasfilm Ltd. takes you beyond the mystery.
00:30 When I saw him, I said, "Ah, this guy's perfect."
00:32 You know, I hope he speaks English.
00:34 Behind the facade.
00:35 He and I have been at odds and there's actually a lawsuit pending
00:39 so a lot of this I can't talk about.
00:40 R2-D2, "Beneath the Dome."
00:44 Emerging from a past shrouded in mystery,
00:47 R2-D2 burst into the American consciousness
00:50 with his star-making role in "Star Wars, A New Hope."
00:53 He was actually at the University of Arizona
00:55 trying to study theater.
00:56 They had taken a couple classes,
00:57 but mostly he was working as an ashcan.
01:00 He was doing an amazing production in "A Christmas Carol."
01:03 He was Tiny Tim.
01:04 I think he had played in some of the early clubs
01:07 during the early '60s in England.
01:09 He trained with the June Taylor dancers years ago
01:12 and he was just, you know, he's a hoofer.
01:14 I'm not real sure that that accent is like the real deal.
01:18 You know, I mean, homeboy is probably like from Detroit or somewhere.
01:21 I'd heard that he was doing some experimental dance.
01:24 You know, that was sort of in the '60s.
01:26 I don't think anybody remembers anything about what happened in those years.
01:29 When we were starting, he was a sweet young droid
01:32 and very anxious to please.
01:34 He'd go and get you coffee or something.
01:36 We actually tried to get him, R2-D2, in "The Godfather."
01:41 If I remember correctly,
01:43 he wanted him for the Michael Corleone role.
01:45 Since I've read the book, I mean, I could just see him in those scenes
01:49 when he's walking through the Sicilian countryside
01:51 with the two bodyguards with their shotguns.
01:54 And so kind of that image always made me persist
01:57 in trying to get him the part, but they didn't see it.
01:59 Bob Evans called him a runt.
02:02 Though "The Godfather" slipped through his grasp,
02:04 "Star Wars" made R2 an international star.
02:07 Still, he yearned for more.
02:09 I think he really wanted to be in the "Indiana Jones" series.
02:12 So as soon as he heard that Steven and I were doing something,
02:14 he immediately said, you know, "Can I have the lead in this?"
02:17 One day in the prop department,
02:19 we found him and he had the hat and the whip.
02:22 Well, as an actor, you have to understand that R2 is limited.
02:26 He used to say he would like to have been a Shakespearean actor.
02:29 He could carry a spear.
02:31 He heard, I think it's, uh,
02:32 Kenneth Branagh was doing Richard III,
02:35 and he auditioned for the Hump.
02:36 And he was very sad not to get it.
02:38 His glory days behind him, R2 faced an uncertain future.
02:43 After the completion of "Return of the Jedi,"
02:45 all of us went off to other things in our career,
02:46 and R2 was left in his beach house in Malibu with nothing to do,
02:50 you know, watched the tide come in and out.
02:52 It was a dark time for him.
02:53 A lot of things went on during those lost years.
02:55 He just kind of, uh, did a few independent films,
02:58 and then he was doing some commercials.
03:00 I heard that he had, on the side, without telling anybody,
03:03 done some dinner theater and some other kinds of things.
03:05 I mean, R2, at a certain point, uh, he started drinking a lot.
03:10 I went to see him. He was living in a cabin, just alone.
03:13 Didn't take care of himself.
03:15 He was rusty. He had let his hair grow.
03:18 He is somebody that I felt, uh,
03:21 could have benefited very much from Prozac.
03:24 No event contributed more to R2's downfall
03:28 than the good fortune of a close friend.
03:30 I know very well that Rick and R2 were friends at one point.
03:33 They used to hang out together and party together.
03:35 But after Rick's Academy Award, R2 didn't talk about him anymore.
03:38 Well, we haven't spoken in a long time.
03:40 And I'm not surprised that he was, uh, unhappy that I won
03:43 because, uh, he and I have been at odds.
03:45 You know, he's a keen follower of the Academy Awards.
03:48 I don't think he's an actor. I think he's a personality.
03:50 Notice that no one else hires him. Notice that.
03:52 I don't think George is aware.
03:54 You know, no one's gonna walk up to George and say,
03:56 "R2-D2 is a schmuck."
03:58 Anxious to help R2, George Lucas made a call to an old friend.
04:02 At one point, George asked me, you know,
04:04 "Is there a place for him in Private Ryan?"
04:06 And for a while, I considered making him a beach obstacle.
04:09 Ironically, it would take the return of the Star Wars series
04:12 to resurrect R2's career.
04:14 When we came back to do, uh, The Phantom Menace,
04:16 he was very excited to be a part of it.
04:18 It wasn't until we actually started shooting
04:20 that he started to act up.
04:22 There's been rumor that there's...
04:24 He likes to drink, I think, so sometimes the, uh,
04:26 dialogue comes out, oh, just backwards, you know?
04:28 The other day, he had a line with Obi-Wan, right?
04:31 And he was meant to say...
04:32 (WHISTLES)
04:34 -Right? -Yeah.
04:35 And instead, he said...
04:36 (WHISTLES)
04:37 (GROANS)
04:38 And thought that, like, none of us would know it.
04:40 You don't talk droid, do you?
04:42 He's always on the phone with his agent,
04:43 like, between scenes and stuff,
04:45 and he's always talking about what he's doing next.
04:47 When it's his close-up, you know,
04:48 I give him my full performance,
04:50 and then when it's my close-up,
04:52 he just reads it from a little page.
04:53 And it affects my work.
04:55 It's when the girls started coming around.
04:57 It's these girls, man, in these short dresses
05:00 and these tight clothes, man.
05:01 It's like something he hadn't been exposed to.
05:03 He certainly doesn't have any problem attracting them,
05:05 so there must be something there.
05:07 I guess it's just the way he looks.
05:08 I can't deny that he's a good-looking robot.
05:11 This fall, there's only one place
05:15 to experience the genius.
05:17 R2 is a brilliant actor.
05:19 His timing is impeccable.
05:21 He's like a machine.
05:22 Feel the anguish.
05:24 When you're at crotch height,
05:25 it's hard to make a good impression.
05:27 Discover the truth.
05:29 His success has gone to his dome, I think.
05:31 In an exclusive multi-part documentary
05:33 available only at StarWars.com,
05:36 R2-D2, Beneath the Dome.
05:40 [whoosh]
05:43 [music playing]
05:47 [music playing]
05:50 [music playing]
05:53 [music playing]
05:56 (upbeat music)
05:58 (upbeat music)