They are among the most famous on-screen duos in history, yet C-3P0 and R2-D2 don’t see eye to eye — and not just because of the height difference.
When the principal actors from the original 1977 movie reunited to film Friday’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the two who were probably keen to avoid each other at the craft services table were Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker.
“He’s the rudest man I’ve ever met,” Baker grumbled about Daniels to hollywood.com in 2005.
“He might as well be a bucket,” Daniels sniped of R2-D2 — played by Baker — in a 2011 interview with British newspaper the Mirror.
If Baker is to be believed, the trouble started back on the set of 1977’s “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope.” He says that Daniels, aka C-3P0, always seemed above the proceedings. “Daniels has no time for any of the other actors — not just me — and none of them have a good word to say about him,” Baker said in 2006.
The Web is dotted with gripes about Daniels being prickly to fans, and there’s even an “Anthony Daniels Horror Stories” page on Facebook — though it’s almost devoid of content.
The friction between Baker and Daniels, which has now apparently spilled over to the convention circuit, might have been born from the actors’ very different backgrounds.
The 3-foot-8 Baker is a former circus and vaudeville performer who, in the 1970s, was making a living alongside Jack Purvis, another actor of short stature, in a London-based duo called the Mini Tones. “Star Wars” writer-director George Lucas hired him, in part, because he was the only adult actor small enough to fit inside the R2 unit.
Daniels, on the other hand, is a classically trained theater actor. He was appearing in a stage production of “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead” when he got a call to audition for “Star Wars.”
He was not a sci-fi fan and was reluctant to read for the part, but his agent persuaded him. The role of C-3P0 still held little appeal until Daniels was shown a concept painting by Ralph McQuarrie, showing a gold humanoid robot with a design that echoed Fritz Lang’s influential 1927 film, “Metropolis.”
“I was genuinely reluctant, embarrassed to do the role,” Daniels told the Mirror. “But I fell in love with [C-3P0’s] face. He just looked really lost, and I wanted to help him.”
‘I’ve asked [Daniels] four times now [about making appearances] but, the last time, he looked down his nose at me like I was a piece of s - - t.’
- Kenny Baker, in 2009
Daniels and Baker had little chance to bond on the set. Imprisoning Daniels in the golden suit took at least an hour. Baker simply hopped into R2 and someone else screwed on the head.
“We were both in our droids. There was no interconnection at all,” Baker has said. “We couldn’t hear or see each other. George used to shout, ‘Look left, look right!’ and wanted me to project emotions like happiness and sadness. It wasn’t very easy.”
“I remember one day, [Kenny] was in the costume, and I said to him, ‘When I say the line, can you turn the head to look at me?’ ” Daniels recalled in “Bring Back . . . Star Wars,” a 2008 documentary. “I was doing a typical stage actor thing, but he had no idea what I was talking about. So I just stopped, I didn’t bother.”
(Interviewed recently at a “Star Wars” exhibit, Daniels refused to comment about the feud to The Post. Baker did not respond to interview requests.)
Baker has said his fellow droid looked down on him — a perception that was echoed when Daniels told the Mirror in 2011, “R2-D2 doesn’t even speak. He might as well be a bucket.”
“I just don’t like him and have never understood what his problem is — other than Daniels thinks he was the greatest gift to George Lucas and I was merely a nobody who operated a robot’s controls and didn’t contribute anything from an acting perspective,” Baker said in 2011.
After the original trilogy concluded with 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” the divide between the men grew.
Despite “Star Wars” becoming a global phenomenon, neither Daniels nor Baker got particularly rich. Only Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness and Harrison Ford had negotiated royalties up front — reportedly at least one-quarter of 1 percent of the movie’s total profit, as well as revenue from rereleases and TV screenings.
“I didn’t have an agent who was too knowledgeable about films,” Baker told UK newspaper Metro in 2009. “Take the recent DVDs, for example. We didn’t know that DVDs would be invented, so, even though they sell very well, some of the actors don’t … [get] any money from them.” (Baker was paid just 800 pounds — around $600 back then — a week, and the actor has said he’s regretted not asking for more.)
One way to supplement income is on the “Star Wars” convention circuit. Even a bit player whose face appeared in one of the films for a few seconds can tour the globe, making personal appearances and signing autographs for a fee.
Baker says he now lives on the money he makes from personal appearances. (“I’m still not a millionaire,” he’s said.) Daniels was always more reluctant to completely dive into the “Star Wars” fan culture, perhaps slightly regretful that what was supposed to be a little sci-fi B-movie has ended up defining his life and robbed him of a chance to become a heavyweight actor.
“If he just calmed down and socialized with everyone, we could make a fortune touring around making personal appearances,” Baker said in 2009. “I’ve asked him four times now but, the last time, he looked down his nose at me like I was a piece of s - - t.”
At a Boston convention years ago, Baker asked Daniels if he had had a nice weekend.
“He said, ‘I’m having a conversation,’ and walked away,” Baker said in “Bring Back . . . Star Wars.” “He wasn’t talking to anybody. I could have hit him.” Daniels then said, according to Baker, “Go away, little man.”
The two now reportedly refuse to appear together at events. In “Bring Back,” Baker was asked if he was interested in a cast reunion. His reply: “If you invite his lordship — the one with the golden balls — if he comes, I won’t be there.”
With “The Force Awakens,” Baker and Daniels are being forced to spend less time together. And that suits them just fine.
“I haven’t seen him in years,” Daniels said of Baker to The Mirror earlier this year. “He’s not actually on set [of ‘The Force Awakens’] . . . His name is on the credits as a sort of . . . I don’t know, a good luck charm, a courtesy.”
It’s true that Baker’s role as R2-D2 has diminished as technology has gotten better. In the original “Star Wars,” multiple R2 units were used. Prop-makers built a fully remote-controlled version, but its motion was limited. Scenes in which the droid wiggled its body or swiveled its dome required a different R2 prop with Baker inside. You can glimpse the actor’s feet protruding from the robot in some “Star Wars” shots.
For the prequels, Lucas relied more on computer-generated imagery.
“Baker was used a fair amount on ‘Episode I,’ but we only used him for one shot — the end wedding scene — for ‘Episode II,’ ” model-maker and R2 operator Don Bies tells The Post. “For ‘Episode III,’ Kenny wasn’t used at all, though George Lucas kindly credited him for the role.”
That arrangement seems to be in place for “The Force Awakens.” Baker is listed in the credits, but he reportedly only showed up briefly on the set as a “consultant.”
Now 81, his health is reportedly failing, and he keeps a low profile, even skipping a recent convention near his house in England.
“I have had a fairly quiet year, and when the sunshine has allowed I have enjoyed the peace
. . . of my garden,” he wrote on his website.
Daniels, 69, appears to also have grown more Zen about the spat.
“[Baker’s] been saying unpleasant things about me,” he told the Mirror in September. “I just don’t comment.”
The tiff may not matter anymore. The iconic droids are rumored to have little more than a cameo in “The Force Awakens,” and fans have already become smitten with a different machine: BB-8. The burbling, spherical robot was the breakout character from the very first film teaser, and its toy version is among the hottest holiday gifts.
The best part? There’s no actor inside the little droid.