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Remember when Anakin Skywalker said he didn’t like sand? It turns out he’s not the only one. In fact, it almost led to one Star Wars actor quitting the saga on the first day of filming.

Speaking to a crowd at FanX Salt Lake Pop Culture & Comic Convention, C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels spoke about his early days with the franchise. According to the actor, it was an image of Threepio that first drew him to the role. “I wasn’t in the least interested in meeting George Lucas for the role of a robot in a low-budget science fiction film. Really, how bad could it get? My agent made me go.”

“I liked George, and it was Ralph McQuarrie’s painting, as I describe in the book I wrote, which changed my mind. Then they gave me the script. Every time I turned the page, I liked him more and more, because he was so different from Luke, who was an incredibly sort of straight character.”

Another thing that drew Daniels in was C-3PO’s relationship with R2-D2.

“I had nothing to do with the character at this point. It was all George’s work. He had written Threepio, a character programmed for protocol and etiquette, on Tatooine for heavens sake. It was a very clever piece of dramatic irony that you put somebody out of place, and it’s always a drama, and then to give him  R2-D2, another dramatic ploy.  And the conversation between them in the script was amazing.”

However, once he arrived on set, he found the heat of the Tunisia desert intense, and the costume uncomfortable.

“At one point I began to lose the nerves in this arm because they were getting squished by that. On the first day I wore that costume all day. It took two hours to put on. They weren’t about to take it off at lunchtime, and I stood in the desert, by myself, whilst the crew went over there to have lunch, and drink things, and go to the bathroom, and I stood there looking at the desert, thinking, ‘This is the first day. Can I resign? Is there a local cab firm?’ We were in the middle of the desert. There was no escape for the droid this time.”

Ultimately, Daniels stuck it out, which is honestly pretty on brand for Threepio.

“I put up with it. The second day I said, ‘You have to take it off at lunchtime, I’m exhausted. I can’t stretch my legs. I’ve got to sit down. I’ve got to eat, and I’ve got to do the other thing.’ And you did not want to see my body when I took that costume off. At the end of the day, I was covered in bruises and scars and whatever.”

Thankfully, Lucas complied with Daniels request, otherwise we’d be looking at a much different version of the saga today. The moral of the story is always keep your droid happy, and the rest will fall into place.