Via Starwars.com:

THE PERFORMER TELLS STARWARS.COM ABOUT UPHOLDING A TRADITION OF ICONIC PUPPETRY AND BEING VERY UNCOMFORTABLE IN THE DESERT.

When Brian Herring signed on in the creature shop for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he idly hoped that one of the practical puppets he would operate might go on to be glorified as an action figure.

Then he read the script.

As the man quite literally behind BB-8 — donning a head-to-toe green nylon suit in the Abu Dhabi desert to sprint behind the rod puppet — his work with puppeteer Dave Chapman has brought the roly-poly astromech to life and made Poe Dameron’s faithful sidekick a fan favorite.

To celebrate the home release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, available now on Digital and via Movies Anywhere and coming to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and On-Demand on March 27, StarWars.com sat down with Herring to talk about creating the sequel trilogy’s droid superstar, his contributions to bringing new life to Ahch-To, and what the journey has meant to the man who, as a child, was told that his obsession with the galaxy far, far away would lead him nowhere. Spoiler: Every word of what his teacher said was wrong.

StarWars.com: You’ve had a really interesting career for 20 years but you’ve had a really fascinating last five or so it seems.

Brian Herring: Yeah, the last five have been a little bit, well, exciting’s probably the best word to use.

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