Well, the day has arrived, and the reviews for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" have rolled in (read ours). The big juicy spoilers have yet to be unveiled, but a few little details have surfaced about the voice of the new droid, BB-8, and the actors who were brought in to try and help bring it life.
HitFix noticed during the credits of ‘The Force Awakens’ that Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz (aka Jean-Ralphio from "Parks & Recreation") were each listed as a "BB-8 Vocal Consultant." Is that job as glamorous as it sounds? According to Hader, not really. Hader says it was him and "J.J. [Abrams] f**king around with this sound effects app on his iPad that was attached to a talk box operated by me. It looked ridiculous but it made BB-8’s voice. At first I tried doing a voice, but we all agreed it sounded too human." So don’t worry, BB-8 sounds appropriately robotic.
But at least Hader and co. knew what they were going in to work on. Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Maz Kanata, reveals she was going in blind when she read for the movie. "I didn’t really know what I was auditioning for, I knew I was going in for J.J.," she told Ellen. "There was a script from something else. … I remember crouching around and using my hands as a gun." Certainly, she must’ve been surprised to see how her performance was transformed into her CGI character.
So, there are a couple little tidbits before you see the movie this weekend. Below, check out Abrams and Harrison Ford in a sketch for "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," in which the latter jokes, "I hated those Ewoks." And then watch a new featurette.
