New Behind-The-Scenes Star Wars Rebels Info Makes Us Love Chopper Even More

Chopper is a fan-favorite droid in Star Wars Rebelsbecause of his loyalty to his fellow Ghost crew members and his questionable morals, but new behind-the-scenes information makes us love him even more. Throughout Rebels’ 4 seasons, Chopper’s voice actor was kept a secret, with his credit in the outro just reading as “himself.” All of that changed with the Rebels series finale when it was revealed that the show’s creator and showrunner, Dave Filoni, voiced the droid.

Since the end of Rebels, Chopper had a cameo in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, going on to appear in Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Ahsoka. The C1-series astromech has never been easy to understand, with audiences largely having to rely on other characters in the scenes to fill in the gaps of what Chopper was saying. However, it’s recently come to light that the Rebels cast always knew what Chopper meant.

The Rebels Cast Always Knew What Chopper Was Saying

His Dialogue Appeared In The Scripts

On the latest Rebels rewatch podcast Pod of Rebellion, former cast members Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), and Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), discussed Dave Filoni's performance as Chopper with moderator Jon Lee Brody. While discussing Rebels season 1, episode 3, “Droids in Distress,” they drifted into a discussion about how dialogue associated with droids like Chopped and R2-D2 appeared in the scripts. Some cast members believed "beep" and "boop" was written, but the matter was eventually settled.

Reddie Prinze Jr and Star Wars Rebels characters.

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Vanessa Marshall found a Rebels script and revealed how Chopper’s lines were written out. Anytime Chopper had a line of dialogue, the actual words were always contained within brackets, likely because audiences weren’t going to know what exactly was said but because the cast needed to.

Pod of Rebellion made a comparison to Vin Deisel getting actual lines for the Guardians of the Galaxy movies even though he only said "I am Groot."

Chopper’s dialogue was written along with his actions so that the cast could get a grasp of what would actually be happening in the episode. While some audience members, myself included, can understand some of what Chopper is saying, it’s nice to know that the Rebels cast didn’t have to struggle or learn a droid binary. One of the great aspects of Rebels has always been that despite not always knowing what Chopper was saying, you could always bet that it was either an insult, a sassy remark, or a mocking remark.

It's amusing to speculate that the Star Wars Rebels scripts may actually have had swearing on them. Many viewers have argued that Chopper's comments sound as though he has one of the foulest mouths in Star Wars; at one point he certainly sounds as though he tells an Imperial officer, "I don't give a ****." It's quite amusing to imagine Star Wars scripts with actual swear words written on them - and this may help explain another Rebels decision.

Dave Filoni Never Recorded His Lines With The Rest Of The Cast

A Surprising Decision, But Understandable

Chopper may have been voiced by Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni, but Filoni never recorded his lines as Chopper with the rest of the cast. It’s not surprising that Filoni chose not to be in the booth for recording sessions, as he had a hand in many different aspects of Rebels and likely didn’t always have the time to record. He may also have been concerned the other voice cast would crack up laughing if they heard him swearing in the booth.

Tiya Sircar revealed that the cast had asked Filoni to join them in the booth and record with them for the final few episodes of Rebels season 4. While Filoni didn’t give in, it’s clear that the cast members would’ve welcomed him. It's likely hard to run, write, and direct a show like Rebels that has so many moving parts, so it’s understandable why Filoni would record Chopper’s lines when it was most convenient for him and his schedule. However, with the number of times that Rebels characters have returned in different Star Wars titles, it’s clear that Rebels, its cast, and its characters mean a great deal to Lucasfilm’s current CCO.

With Chopper likely returning in other upcoming Star Wars titles, it’ll be interesting to see if any other information is revealed about Dave Filoni and his process for recording lines for the orange astromech. Having a look behind the scenes with the cast of Rebels not only enhances our understanding of what goes into making an animated Star Wars show but also enhances our viewing of episodes and characters. Either way, getting this look behind the curtain at Chopper makes us love the Rebels' trusty astromech even more.