As excited as we were to meet Donald Glover’s young Lando Calrisissian in Solo, he turned out to be only the second best crew member of the Millennium Falcon’s pre-Han days. While the ship’s cool cape-wearing captain was mostly focused on making money and having a good time, his trusty co-pilot, the self-made droid L3-37, was out there trying to liberate her fellow mechanical brethren. “Elthree” was independent, lively, and a total badass. While we never got to see her face, it was Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s amazing performance that made the character so memorable. However, it took more than just one person to truly help L3-37 come alive, and a behind-the-scenes look from Industrial Light & Magic shows just how much work went into making the sassiest droid in the galaxy far, far away.
This “Spotlight” video from Lucasfilm’s VFX studio highlights just how much of Waller-Bridge’s actual performance, which featured her wearing an L3-37 suit with a green body suit, made it into the character’s final edit. The technique they used to combine her on-set portrayal with CGI-layering allowed Solo to create “a level of photorealism” never seen in a Star Wars film.Despite being a champion of droid rights, L3 might be the most human robot in all of Star Wars. Her character had a level of nuance and a freedom of movement perfectly encapsulated in her cockpit conversation with Qi’ra that made her feel as real as any biological character in the film. And while a lot of that credit goes to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, no matter how much L3 likes to think she’s self-made, it took a lot of talented people to create her.
Featured Image: Industrial Light & Magic
