Before Ian McDiarmid took on the role of the iconic Star Wars villain Emperor Palpatine, a few unexpected actors held the role.
The Big Picture In the vast universe of role recasts in cinema, one stands out as both the most overlooked and the greatest of all. The iconic villain of the Skywalker Saga, Emperor Palpatine, famously played by Ian McDiarmid, didn’t always have his voice and face.
The record was set straight in 2010, with the release of J.W. Rinzler’s book The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. In it, the author recounts that Eaton’s footage proved unsatisfactory, establishing it was in fact Baker’s portrayal that ultimately made it to the final cut of the Emperor’s brief holographic exchange with Darth Vader .
With all these setbacks, filming was already behind schedule, so the decision to cast McDiarmid in the role was taken rather quickly. George Lucas and Return of the Jedi director Richard Marquand had a quick meeting with McDiarmid, in which he recalls it lasted no more than 10 minutes and the topic of the movie wasn’t mentioned. Talking about life instead and about how nice McDiarmid’s nose was, their choice was made.
Even when he never pursued a career in film, McDiarmid’s impact ensured his return for the prequel trilogy and, though it made his duplicitous role as Senator Palpatine and Darth Sidious a bit of an obvious reveal, he was able to demonstrate his range one more time. As the senator, he’s a believable ally who’s more focused on his political advancement than the common good. As Sidious, he’s playing the long con as the puppet master behind the years-brewing fall of the Republic.
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