Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels ‘fell deeply, deeply asleep’ watching Rise of Skywalker for the first time

Daniels played the uptight robot C-3PO in all nine core Star Wars films

Anthony Daniels, the actor who plays the fussy android C-3PO in the Star Wars saga, has revealed that he fell asleep while watching Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker for the first time.

In an interview with Cnet, the sci-fi veteran said that he “fell deeply, deeply asleep” while watching the poorly received film in director JJ Abrams’s private viewing theatre.

“J.J.’s viewing theater is gorgeously comfortable, it’s just wonderful. Too comfortable – I was exhausted. Christine [Savage, his wife] woke me up just before the end.”

He attributed the incident to a few glasses of “medicinal” wine consumed beforehand.

“It was only after the premiere in London - when I avidly watched [the film] all the way through – that I admitted to J.J. that I’d fallen asleep at his screening,” said the actor. “’I know,’ he told me, with a laugh.”

Judging by the tepid critical response to the film, Daniels wasn’t the only one who found The Rise of Skywalker a little soporific.

Jake Cannavale, who starred in the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian on Disney+, called Rise of Skywalker the “hands down the worst Star Wars movie“, adding that it was “an absolute f***ing failure”.

John Boyega, who plays Finn in the recent Star Wars sequels, has also admitted to “some disappointments“ with the film.