by Erin Thompson

Created on: May 03, 2008

Using explosives is every 7-year-old boy's dream. Grant Imahara is living that dream. But he's more than just a cast member on the Discovery Channel show "MythBusters," the show that uses science to prove urban legends.

Imahara specializes in electronics and radio control and has worked on special effects for movies such as the "Star Wars" prequels and "E.T. Special Edition."

But before he was busting myths, Imahara worked for Industrial Light & Magic, which creates animatronics for movies with heavy special effects. When working here, he built and animated electronic robots to simulate things from real life.

He was only 7 years old when "Star Wars: A New Hope" was released, but as a child of the "Star Wars" era, Imahara fulfilled his dream of being an operator for R2-D2 in all three of the prequels. In the original movies, a person inside the costume controlled the robot. "At the time, most of the robots would break down a lotthings [have] changed since they started using electronics in robots."

""This was part of my culture growing up," said Imahara, who spoke to students and members of the Edinboro community on April 24 in Van Houten South Dining Hall. "I watched them with my mom, seeing my work on the big screen was one of the coolest things you could imagine."

When hearing news that he would be working on R2-D2 for the "Star Wars" prequels, he said "It was a dream come true."

Imahara's dream was further fulfilled when he was asked to become one of the few people who are trained to wear a C-3PO costume. He spent 10 years posing as C-3PO for commercials and personal appearances.

"While the "Star Wars" re-releases were being shown, there was a constant demand for the characters," said Imahara.

Imahara noted the way that C-3PO walks, "the character is played from the chest. His chest is always out." But he said that the C-3PO's signature walk is not just a coincidence. "People think the way 3PO moves is neatthe truth is that the costume dictates how you move."
"It gives you a shuffle walk. You can't bend your legs very far. When you see 3PO, it's the costume walking," said Imahara.

Imahara was the third member of the Build Team to join the cast of "MythBusters." As someone who worked in animatronics, he joined the cast because work in his field was dwindling as a result of computer graphics.

Imahara worked with most of the "MythBusters" cast before starting on the show. "I worked with Adam and Tory at Industrial Light & Magic on movies and Jamie would hire me nights

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