Kenny Baker made small movements count. Inside R2-D2, he gave machinery a comic personality; we particularly value his partnership with Anthony Daniels in Star Wars, where the robots are allowed to be good company.
Fi1m perspective
R2-D2 can lean forwards and backwards, or wobble from side to side, and the movement reads as an answer. Kenny Baker operated the character from inside the costume, making a restricted set of gestures expressive. In George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977), the comedy depends on the time given to those gestures beside Anthony Daniels’s C-3PO. We laughed more than we expected because their contrasting responses were treated as the exchanges of an ordinary double act. Baker makes a robot worth spending time with, without needing to explain it.
Baker’s earlier work in cabaret and his comedy partnership with Jack Purvis, the Mini Tones, help explain that comfort beside another performer. Physical comedy had been his work before George Lucas cast him as R2-D2. Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981) gives him a speaking role as Fidgit, while Return of the Jedi (1983) adds the Ewok Paploo alongside R2-D2. Fidgit is the useful detour for anyone who wants to see him working beyond the robot costume.
We rate The Empire Strikes Back (1980), directed by Irvin Kershner, even more highly than Star Wars. Its darker turn still leaves room for humour, though a few solemn lessons slow it down. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), with Baker again playing R2-D2, is a different proposition. Lucas supplies fine action, but the stiff conversations and lengthy explanations make it hard to recommend without substantial reservations. Affection for a returning character is no reason to excuse the writing.
The later prequels increasingly used CGI and remote-controlled versions of R2-D2, leaving less room for Baker’s physical performance. We should be careful about crediting him with everything the character does. What we can value in Star Wars is the patience given to the double act, allowing a small movement to count as a full reply. Start there, and watch the robots as closely as the humans.
Biography
Kenny Baker was a British actor, comedian and musician. He was born Kenneth George Baker on 24 August 1934 in Birmingham, England, and died on 13 August 2016 in Preston, Lancashire.
Baker began performing in the 1950s, working in circuses, ice shows and variety acts before being cast as R2-D2 in the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983). He reprised the role in the prequel films Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). He also appeared in The Elephant Man (1980), Time Bandits (1981), Amadeus (1984), Labyrinth (1986) and Willow (1988).
