Star Wars: Ben Schwartz Reveals What He Stole From the Set of The Rise of Skywalker

Ben Schwartz, one of the vocal consultants for BB-8, also wrote some of C-3PO’s dialogue for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (now available on Disney+). It turns out he also took home a souvenir from the film’s set. During an interview with Fandom, Schwartz revealed he brought home a piece of the Millenium Falcon. Schwartz tugged on a loose piece of insulation hanging from the ship’s ceiling. He pulled down more than he intended, but now its kept safe in a jar with a label he typed up himself. You can see it and hear him tell the entire story in the video embedded above.

Schwartz and fellow comedian Bill Hader helped created the “voice” of BB-8 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Schwartz also got to play a First Order Stormtrooper in the film. Years later, he revealed during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he helped punch up C-3PO’s dialogue for The Rise of Skywalker.

“I got a special thanks in Episode IX. I wrote a couple of jokes for C-3PO,” Schwartz said. “It happened because the movie was done and [director] JJ [Abrams] asked if I could come by and maybe see if I could punch up some stuff. He’s been an incredible influence.

“I got like four or five [in the movie]. One of them is when they come down through the sandpits, and they look around and say, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’ And nobody says C-3PO and C-3PO comes to through the back and says, ‘Nobody said my name, but I’m okay!’”

C-3PO played a significant role in The Rise of Skywalker. He was vital to deciphering the message on the Sith dagger, which the heroes needed to locate the planet Exegol, where the deposed Emperor Palpatine was hiding. Still, Anthony Daniels, who plays the protocol droid, lamented that his role was less than what it once had been.

“I just was so thrilled that J.J. and [co-writer Chris Terrio] finally came up with something worthwhile, and including that crazy thing, ‘I am not permitted to translate a Sith artifact,’” Daniels said in an interview. “What a wonderful reversal.

“You also have to realize that there’s an awful lot of editing after you’ve finished filming, so C-3PO’s role was even sweeter and broader than that. But some of those niceties have to go because there’s so much in that film already, it’s almost two films in one, as you know. So I was a little sad about that, particularly his relationship with Poe, played by the wonderful Oscar Isaac. That was just so sweet and so funny because Poe was always kind of irritated by C-3PO but in a nice way. And working with Oscar, I just would giggle through scenes with him because he’s just so sweet and natural.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now available on home media and streaming on Disney+.