How George Lucas Described The Emperor To Ian McDiarmid

In the history of science fiction and cinema, few characters embody pure evil like Star Wars‘ Emperor Palpatine. Ian McDiarmid took on the role for Return of the Jedi, speaking on behalf of the most devious of Sith ideals. Darth Vader had menaced the screen for two films prior to his performance, so when audiences finally saw who Vader answered to, it was easy to hate the character. Despite knowing his character would be hated and despised, McDiarmid had no problem accepting the role, which might have been due to George Lucas‘ lack of description of the character.

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During the 40th anniversary panel at Star Wars Celebration, Ian McDiarmid joined the stage with George Lucas and host Warwick Davis to discuss his work on the saga. One of the questions that came up was how George Lucas prepared McDiarmid to play such a villainous character, to which McDiarmid joked, “Well, he didn’t.”

McDiarmid continued, “George doesn’t go in for lengthy explanations, which is great. We met very briefly over lunchtime, with [director] Richard Marquand. This is, of course, Return of the Jedi. I was very pleased to meet them both, thrilled, of course.”

Little did McDiarmid know what this fateful meeting would lead to, revealing, “And then we said our polite goodbyes and I went back home and my phone was ringing. My agent said ‘You’ve got the part.’ I said, ‘That’s great. What’s the part?’ He went leafing through piles of papers and he said, ‘Well, apparently, he’s called the Emperor of the Universe,’ and I said, ‘Well, I guess we’re doing it, then.’”

Although meeting with the filmmakers might not have had many details, physically taking on the look of the character helped motivate his performance. “From there, it was makeup, hood, yellow eyes, and a script,” confessed McDiarmid. “I think most of my information, and most actors would agree about this, came from the script. George was always around and very helpful, but he wasn’t specifically directing that movie, that was Richard.”

Years later, McDiarmid got another chance to portray Palpatine in the prequel films, in which he wore slightly less makeup and was slightly less evil.

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