Alan Tudyk on His Role in “Rogue One” and With Disney Animation Studios
Pictured: Alan Tudyk
Alan Tudyk is no stranger to Disney. He got his start with Disney in 2011 with his supporting role on ABC’s Suburgatory and since then he’s voiced numerous characters in films like Frozen, Wreck-It-Ralph, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and his latest venture as the voice of HeiHei in Moana. This December, he is set to star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as the droid K-2SO. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tudyk took time from shooting the upcoming NBC show Powerless, that is set in the DC Universe, to chat about Star Wars, his future with the franchise, and a very special character from the prequels, Jar Jar Binks:
Pictured: K-2SO from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
You’re voicing the droid K-2SO in Star Wars: Rogue One. What was that like?
It’s motion capture. So, you will hear my voice, but I was there for the whole thing. It was a blast. It’s basically acting, but you’re wearing a silly costume and the actual costume comes later in post. But you’re working with the other actors, so the lines change and you’re affected by their performance. You’re part of making the role and making the movie there on set as opposed to animation, which is very different. There’s one animated character that’s a good example of StarWars animation gone bad, which is Jar Jar Binks. He was 100 percent animated and it didn’t go well. It became cartoonish and I think a lot of that can be attributed to the way that it was done.
You’re playing these very advanced androids or alien creatures, but the audience still needs to connect to the character.
Luckily the history of droids in StarWars movies is really rich in that they’re not just emotionless robots. They’re some of the favorite characters within the franchise, so right from the beginning there’s a lot of leeway. The whole world embraces them as fully formed personalities and characters. We almost don’t question that they have a soul.
There are so many iconic Star Wars droids. Was it a challenge to make K-2SO distinct?
No, it was written really distinctly. He’s very different from the others because he comes from the Empire. He’s a security droid, so he can be an intimidating force and can be enforcing. Some people call him an enforcer droid, which seems appropriate. And he’s a spy and a soldier. Playing a droid also gives you the possibility to pop up in other StarWars films since they don’t age like the human characters.
Do you think we’ll see K-2SO in any other installments?
I’m doing my best. (Laughs) Sure, why not? All these worlds are intertwined. It’s exciting to me what they’re doing with these stand-alones. You can criss-cross those timelines at any point. They’re creating them. They’re giving these backstories to characters and filling in blank spots like ours.
Pictured: Alistair Krei in “Big Hero 6”, voiced by Tudyk
Tudyk also answered a few questions on his involvement with Disney Animation Studios and Moana. He said he is up for just about any character they throw at him, including HeiHei, a character with no lines. When asked about Moana, he said that he found it funny he also voiced the “old guy right at the beginning who wants to eat HeiHei”. Since his days on Firefly, Tudyk as been known for his ability to transform into any role, from a dentist to a tech-pioneer, into a “stupid” chicken. It’s no reason Tudyk has been dubbed by some to be the John Ratzenberger of Disney Animation!
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