The most unexpected casting in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' is the voice of BB-8
The lovable new droid in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," BB-8, may speak in a mechanical garbled sound like the saga's best-known short droid, R2-D2, but there was actually an actor behind it.
In the previous "Star Wars" movies, R2-D2 and other droids that didn't speak with words were given voice thanks to the skills of sound designer Ben Burtt and his team.
HitFix, however, spotted in the end credits of "The Force Awakens" that Bill Hader was credited as BB-8's "vocal consultant."
The actor is known best for his comedic talents in front of the camera for years on "Saturday Night Live" and most recently in the film "Trainwreck" opposite Amy Schumer. But for years he has lent his voice to video games and TV shows, most recently "South Park." And he is skilled at coming up with multiple different voices.
But it seems getting the right "voice" for BB-8 put his vocal talents to the test.
Hader told HitFix what the job consisted of:
"J.J. [Abrams] f-----g 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."
And Abrams didn't call only on Hader. According to HitFix, actor Ben Schwartz is also credited as a BB-8 voice consultant.
Admittedly, BB-8's voice attracts less attention in the movie than the droid's actions. Much more dynamic than R2's, BB-8's movements and gestures throughout the movie are quite impressive (yes, every kid is begging for one for Christmas) — even if NASA isn't too impressed.
Still, it's pretty cool to learn that Abrams had actors like Hader come in to find BB-8's voice.
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