New interview with Dee Bradley Baker over at
IGN:
[spoil][align=left]Star Wars: The Clone Wars - What's Next for Rex?
The voice of all the Clone Troopers -- Dee Bradley Baker -- talks about Order 66 getting ever-closer.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns next week with a big visual change, as the Clone Troopers transition into the Phase 2 armor we saw them wearing in Revenge of the Sith. Continuing to voice every single Clone Trooper on the show is the amazing voice actor Dee Bradley Baker, who is called upon to create the subtle distinctions between Captain Rex, Commander Cody and so many other Clones.
Last month, I spoke to Baker about what's to come on The Clone Wars – where the unknown fate of Rex, who is not in Revenge of the Sith – always looms like a shadow.
IGN TV: This season, we're getting an upgrade to the new armor. [Supervising Director] Dave Filoni told me Rex is not thrilled with that and holds on to elements of his original armor.
Dee Bradley Baker: Yeah. That begins to reveal itself as his story plays out. My question has always been what happens to Rex and what happens to Ahsoka - those two characters in particular. There's no way that they can't deal with that in a meaningful and very important way. And that will be happening. And yeah, you start to see that - that Rex is part of the old guard, and the new guard, as Dave said, starts to muddy the waters, so to speak, in terms of the genetics and I think maybe the training. And then they start recruiting people until you end up with the stormtroopers that we see in Episode IV. So that evolution is taking place as this unfolds, as these stories become increasingly cinematic and the arcs become more cinematic. There's more and more of that, where it's not just little one-offs or even two-offs. You see more three and four [episode arcs] and bigger, truly cinematic story arcs coming out. It's quite remarkable.
The show really continues to deepen and evolve in really rich and rewarding and fascinating, exciting ways. I can't wait to hear what people think of the Umbara arc. That's all that I've seen of Season 4 -- and that was even with I think some temp stuff in it -- but it looked absolutely stunning. It's just so exciting to see how this show continues to grow.
IGN: It must be gratifying to see how Rex has resonated. People love this character.
Baker: Rex is a rock, man. He is dependable, he's smart, he's flexible, and in a way, he's kind of the heart in the tragic change and tragic switch that has to happen with the demise of the Jedi and the Order 66 and everything that has to happen. I mean, he's been there from the beginning when this was a pure mission. And it slowly starts to fall apart or there's a misstep here or a misstep there… And you know things are starting to change for Anakin. You know that that's going to happen. But how does that happen for Rex? You've seen, even in "The Deserter" episode, that even Mr. Straight-Ahead, by-the-book Rex, he's got a sense of humanity and a flexibility in him that shows that he's human and not just purely straight-by-the-book-and-nothing-else dogma. Logically, that is his strength… and his weakness maybe, but I don't know.
IGN: You got a glimpse of it in Revenge of the Sith, but now on the show you're really able to flesh out the relationships the Clones and the Jedi have, such as Cody and Obi-Wan, and how that all changes in a second with Order 66. Is that an interesting element for you to play?
Baker: Yeah. Well as you get closer and closer to Episode III, and the whole body of these stories begins to play out, you start to see questions that have begun to emerge in the clones' minds. They're humans, and they're just slaughtered in such great numbers. And to what cause - for this battle or for that battle? That's part of what's so compelling to me is that whole switch of that order that seems so sudden in Episode III. But episode by episode, piece by piece, you start to see that this is all starting to take root. And then finally, it happens. IGN: You've had some other fun roles besides the clones on this show. Should we be listening for you in any upcoming episodes?
Baker: Well the past couple of days I've been playing with Jim Cummings as Hondo and a bunch of others. Doing some pirates - that's a lot of fun. I've been doing pirates for a couple of episodes at least. But it's so great that they can take it in so many directions and take characters that just kind of jumped up briefly and then all of the sudden, "Aw, I liked that character. I want to see him more." And they bring them back more. And there is more of that.
You'll see a lot more Ventress. Ventress, for me, was always one of my very favorite villains and one of my very favorite characters. And we've seen with the Nightsisters what a compelling and fascinating story that she has. The evolution that she goes through and the stuff that's happening to her, I've gotta say, that's probably a third [overriding] issue for me, is what's the deal with Ventress? Because that sure ain't over…
IGN: I loved in one of the trailers for the new season where you get to say, as a Clone, "Oh, it's going to be one of those planets," when you see some "cute" aliens. Is it fun for you when they throw in those little self-deprecating bits?
Baker: Well, it's a delight! It feels utterly right as somebody who's enjoyed Star Wars since Episode IV -- and I saw it many tens of times when it first came out, because I worked in a theater as a Jawa when it re-released. But they're constantly sprinkling in those kinds of references, those idioms that are familiar to all fans of the original movies that really make it feel like Star Wars.
IGN: Wait, did you say you worked in a theater as a Jawa?
Baker: Yeah! What happened was the Halloween after -- And I've gotta find this picture. I've got a picture of it -- The Halloween after the summer of Star Wars, my mom and dad put together a really killer Jawa costume for me with the glowing eyes and everything. It looked really, very good. That was my Halloween costume. And then the following summer, they re-released Star Wars. And I got hired at the local theater just to be there as a Jawa. And they paid me in movie passes, which was, like, better than money.
IGN: How old were you?
Baker: Let's see. Like 14 or 15 maybe?
IGN: Yeah, movie passes are everything at that age.
Baker: Yeah. "I don't want money. Let me watch Star Wars all summer long and pay me in movie passes. And I get to dress up as a Jawa and sit in the theater?!" That was my first Star Wars gig! Needless to say, that movie meant a lot to me, and it still does. And to watch these shows, and what a wonderful realization of this it is, I can't tell you what it means to me to see it. I almost can't really believe it when I see it.[/align][/spoil]
[/spoil]
First confirmed solo kill by Artoo. R2 now stone-cold killer in canon.