--- description: If the garbled voice of the droid BB-8 in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" sounds familiar, that's because it belongs to Bill Hader. title: You'll Never Guess the Actor Behind Star Wars Droid BB-8's Voice image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb32ec3a2273f51/698875accd1bbad7dc6fe917/bb-8.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # You'll Never Guess the Actor Behind _Star Wars_ Droid BB-8's Voice  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Dec 16, 2015 7:13 PM CUT  BB-8 attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at Leicester Square in London on Dec. 16, 2015. BB-8 attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at Leicester Square in London on Dec. 16, 2015.Mike Marsland—WireImage/Getty Imges  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Dec 16, 2015 7:13 PM CUT If the robotic voice of BB-8, the lovable new droid in _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_, seems imbued with a spark of humanity, that’s because there’s an actual human voice behind it. And not just any human voice, but the one belonging to _Saturday Night Live_ alum Bill Hader. [HitFix](http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/wait-a-minute-who-played-the-voice-of-bb-8-in-star-wars-the-force-awakens "undefined") spotted the actor’s name in the credits at the end of the movie, along with fellow actor Ben Schwartz (best known as _Parks and Recreation_’s Jean-Ralphio). Hader and Schwartz were credited as vocal consultants, a nebulous role which Hader explained to HitFix as follows: “JJ \[Abrams\] f–king around with this sound effects app on his iPad that was attached to a talk box operated by me. It looked ridiculous but it made BB-8’s voice. At first I tried doing a voice, but we all agreed it sounded too human.” Hader and Schwartz’s contributions to the sound of BB-8 mark a slight departure from the way in which fellow droid R2-D2 got his voice. To create that robot’s whistles and whirs, sound designer Ben Burtt—who’s also responsible for the voices of Chewbacca, Darth Vader, the Imperial Walkers and the light saber—[recorded](http://www.fastcodesign.com/3045177/how-ben-burtt-designed-the-sounds-of-star-wars "undefined") his own voice and combined it with electronic sounds made using using synthesizer. Behind the scenes as he may be, Hader turns out to be a crucial contributor to _Star Wars_‘ [hottest droid right now](http://www.ew.com/article/2013/05/17/saturday-night-live-stefon-clubs-everything "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4151880/bb-8-voice-star-wars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4151880/bb-8-voice-star-wars/"},"headline":"You'll Never Guess the Actor Behind Star Wars Droid BB-8's Voice","datePublished":"2015-12-16T19:13:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:27:51.352Z","description":"The droid gets his voice from a former \"Saturday Night Live\" star","url":"https://time.com/4151880/bb-8-voice-star-wars/","keywords":["movies","Newsfeed","Star Wars topic","Bill Hader","star wars: the force awakens"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb32ec3a2273f51/698875accd1bbad7dc6fe917/bb-8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb32ec3a2273f51/698875accd1bbad7dc6fe917/bb-8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 16: BB-8 attends the European Premiere of \"Star Wars: The Force Awakens\" at Leicester Square on December 16, 2015 in London, England. 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