British actor Anthony Daniels had been a thespian for only two years when he started a career that hasn’t stopped. He took a job as C-3PO (nickname Threepio), the fussy, comic interpreter droid in George Lucas’ “Star Wars.”

The droid’s fame has far surpassed Daniels’, but the actor has become an evangelist for the science fiction film series conceived in the 1970s. A reporter for your local newspaper sat down with Daniels at the Science Museum of Minnesota, where the exhibit “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” opened last week, and asked a few questions.

Anthony Daniels: Right, OK. Go for it.

Mathias Baden: I guess I just want to start with some, hear some of your stories about being in “Star Wars” and how you got the role.

AD: Well, the reason I got the role was because George was constantly in England and he was seeing almost every actor in the world. And he wanted an actor who was good at mime so could wear a suit like this. … And I refused to meet him, but my agent made me go. And in his office there was a painting … by Ralph McQuarrie. I fell in love with the character in the painting. There was something, I cannot explain it. I looked at the character and he looked back at me, and that was it.

MB: So you weren’t happy at the time about being cast as a robot, is that right?

AD: No, I didn’t want to go for the interview. I didn’t want to play a robot. I thought it sounded like a stupid idea. Why would I do that? I was being very successful at the theater on the West End. So the idea of playing a robot was a bit like a dalliance, you understand.

And it was when I saw that painting that I realized that he wasn’t a robot, he was a character. He was – how can I say character? – you can’t say he’s a person, because he’s not a person. You see how confusing it is?

There was something about the drawing. And then the script, the way he spoke, the way it was written, it was different, it was weird, and it was a real acting role. I think that was the difference. (At first) I thought it would just be this. [He points to R2-D2.]

But C-3PO was a real … I get nervous when actors say, “It was a real challenge.” Oh, for God’s sake. …

But actually it was a challenge. It would be a challenge to make him human, because he visibly isn’t human, so there’s a balance between … whatever.

And so when I read the script, that’s when I got really interested and I had another two-hour interview with George. And at the end I said, “Can I play the role?”

MB: How have you used C-3PO’s fame for your career?

AD: Well, originally, they really kept it secret that I was in a costume. They wanted people to believe that he was a real robot. Pretty amazing since I think we’re at least a hundred years away from having an … intuitive, cognitive, social thing. Shouldn’t call him a thing. People still today do not realize. But it was really quite difficult. I realize my name was never on any say Luke Skywalker brackets Mark Hamill with C-3PO in a scene from. That was actually very difficult to live with, because, you know, it was like you write your best article ever and win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism – and then they don’t put your name on it? That was difficult.

And eventually they admitted they didn’t want people to know. I worked pretty hard on that film, and it was hard to be taken away from it.

And I nearly didn’t do the second film. … You know, if it hurts to bang your head on the wall, why don’t you stop banging your head?

And then I realized that the money was there and anyway, just as important, I really liked it. … And then of course they realized that people were actually quite interested in me personally … and that I have things to say about it, and so now, look at me know. Lucasfilm is extremely happy that I’m here, and indeed, I’ll be with him and speaking in Sweden for another exhibition.

Because, like C-3PO, I have the power or the ability to chat.

And I don’t be on stage anymore, because that’s not my lifestyle. And I realize, talking to 200 employees last night, having sort of an audience with, I noticed that that’s the nearest, it’s so rewarding, because that’s like being in theater. And I love responding with human beings.

MB: You’ve played way more characters than just C-3PO in your career. Tell me about, I mean, you’ve done voices for every character in “Star Wars.”

AD: Oh, I’ve done lots of things, but indeed, I simply forget. I’m not very interested in myself.

MB: How did the voice come about for C-3PO. Originally, you weren’t going to be doing that voice.

AD: I thought about, because we worked on the costume for six months, and … I tried different voices. On the airplane here, I just re-saw “2001: Space Odyssey.” And I talked to George about that and how “You’re hurting me, Dave” is tremendously calm, slightly Canadian, I think – totally wrong for a robot like this.

Then I thought about the robot from “Barbarella” – all-time favorite – that was really very prissy. …

And gradually, gradually, gradually Threepio began to take shape in my mind until the day he suddenly arrived. I almost can’t take all the credit for it. He kind of did that. I know that sounds odd, but to be honest, he arrived with the luggage.

MB: What’s your latest movie?

AD: “The CloneWars” thing.

MB: That’s out this summer. Doing the voices?

AD: Doing the voice of Threepio. Indeed, on Monday afternoon, I’ll be back in the studio doing another film for the ongoing cartoon series. … As you get tired your voice goes down physically. And Threepio’s a bit up here. So the more tired I am, the more effort it is to sustain. So, yes, Monday afternoon – 4 o’clock, 8 o’clock in San Francisco – they’re all a little tired and crotchety. It’s teatime in England – I’m happy. … I don’t want to do it later in the day. And that’s kind of fun, because I don’t wear the costume.

So for a job I never wanted, a job that eventually was 12 weeks, a job that eventually turned into 32 years, a job where I’m the only person to be in all six “Star Wars” films, a job where I have the beginning line of the first film and the last line of the sixth film, it was odd.

And I was really touched when I realized that (in “Episode VI: Revenge of the Sith), there’s about five minutes of film, but it’s all mute, so I actually have the last line. …

In this film, he’s an object, he’s a washing machine, he’s a vacuum cleaner. Curiously, what has happened is … we’ve forgotten Threepio is an object, a robot. He’s incredible, he’s great, he’s a robot. But then if he’s still, you forget that he’s there. And people used to treat me like an object, because I was playing an object. …

But now, I regularly talk to objects. … I sort of always joked that we should be nice to our robots, because they look after us. … You know, the more time goes on with the science that we have here, the more we’re going have machines that, you know cars speak to us, … there’s the off button, but more and more machines will be coming.