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Ian McDiarmid on Star Wars
Ian McDiarmid, who played Senator Palpatine/The Emperor in the "Star Wars" films, was present at the Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith DVD junket on Thursday and talked about playing the role.
Q: When you appeared in Return of the Jedi, did you have any idea, after all these years, that you would come back to revisit these films.
Ian McDiarmid: As Frank [Oz] would say, "no". It was extraordinary how I came to play the man in the first place. I had a very brief meeting with George [Lucas], one lunch time, no lunch, they were very busy, and I got back, there was a phone call from my agent who said, "It's great, you've got the part." I had to say, "What part?" And they said, "The Emperor of the Universe!" Well, the only way is down after this. And I embraced it wholeheartedly and I've been embracing it wholeheartedly ever since. Did I imagine I 'd be talking to you here 25 odd years later? No, certainly not. But it's been a great journey.
Q: Did you imagine that your character would be the one of all the characters in the movies, all 6 films that really had the whole arc of development in a way we didn't see with any of the other heroes?
McDiarmid: No again to that. When George asked me to be in the prequels, and it was the same kind of meeting - very, very short. It was nice to see him after a long time. We met in a hotel room. He said, "What would you like to drink?" I said, "I think I'll take the sparkling mineral water." And he said, "Oh, by the way. Do you know anyone who wants to play an emperor?" And I said, "Oh, funny you should say that." And he said, "Great! You can give the water back!" And that was that, once again. But he did let me in to a few secrets-not many-that's his way. I'm all for that, actually - the mark of a great storyteller never to give away secrets in advance. But he did say that the character would be on the sidelines in movies I and II and move into the middle with number III. But I didn't realize that he would move in with quite such a bang. And it only slowly dawned on me that if Vader was really the worst creature, the most evil, the darkest, the blackest villain in movie history, I was worst than him. And I'm still slightly coming to terms with that, actually. So I think my relationship with Satan is closer than I ever imagined it being as a character. (laughs)
Q: How do kids react when they see you in person now?
McDiarmid: They're a little tentative, which is a relief frankly. And they tend to approach me with negative questions like, "You are not him, are you?" And then I can truthfully say "no" because I don't know the "him" that they have in mind. That's being a little dishonest, but not wholly. By the time they phrase their next question, I've disappeared around the corner. There was one guy when I came over here just as the film was opening just to see it for the first time in this very room. I was at the airport getting my bag. A little boy came up to me and said, "Are you in Star Wars?" and I said "Yes". Then he went back to his mother who apologized for him interrupting me. It didn't matter. Then he came back again when her eye was on the carousel and said, "Are you a liar?" Now that will make you analyze it, it is a very interesting question. The answer is "yes" and "no". The character, absolutely, lies from the moment he was conceived. Me, I hope not. On the other hand, nobody could be in Star Wars and standing next to you at a carousel, could they? And also, it's sort of my job to make you believe things about him that aren't true about me. So that's almost the best question I've had so far and it was from a guy who couldn't be more than 8!
Q: Were you kind of champing at the bit after playing this character in disguise for two movies to get to the real evil part of this guy?
McDiarmid: Yes, I was. Yes. Again, I didn't know how evil he was going to be - I knew he was going to be pretty evil - until I got the script. And I also didn't know that he would have fighting skills which I had to acquire fairly quickly. I imagined that his power was in his fingers and in his head. Little did I know that he was the fastest light-saberist in the universe! But now I know and now he is. And there are a number of people who helped me get there. The one I always mention is Michael Burn, who is a great master swordsman and a brilliant stunt double.
Q: Would you be interested in revisiting the character in the planned television series?
McDiarmid: Nobody really knows the details of the television series. I don't think that's because people are being particularly coy. I just think lot of things haven't been decided yet. But I know that George's intention is to follow one of the characters who has been less highlighted up to now but has been very popular. And sure, if it's the period between the two movies, then the Emperor has to be referred to. But you'll remember, he was referred to often without actually appearing in the first Star Wars movie. And Peter Cushing was his very effective representative. So, I suspect there might be a number of very effective representatives. But you know I always answer my telephone! (laughs)
Q: How did you come up with a voice for the character.
McDiarmid: "When I saw the face" is the short answer. When I saw that mask all those years ago down at Elstree. The original intention I think was that my voice should be…well it might even have been Clive Revell's voice because he already voiced the movie. And consistency is clearly very important - continuity when you're making a film. And Richard Marquand, the director, said to me, "If you can get your voice close to Clive's, George may let you keep it!" I had no idea that it might be taken away from me at that stage. And I had the temerity to think that Clive, of course, didn't see the face that I'm looking at-he saw an actor, or was it an actress, we'll never know, in a mask. He matched the voice, presumably, one morning at a recording session. And I had some time to get to know this character. And I thought, "Well, he comes from the bowels of the earth-he looks like an old toad". And before I knew it, I was making the voice. (No, I'm not going to do it.) (Laughs) This came out. And George, as usual, heard it and, within about 10 seconds, liked it fortunately. And I've been stuck wit it happily ever since
Q: How difficult was it to go from the sublime evil that you play in the first half of the film to a carbon copy of your performance twenty years ago?
McDiarmid: Yes, well it's very interesting. I've said this a few times, but there was a note George gave, not really as a note, we were just talking. And he said this quite casually. He said, "You should think of your eyes, Ian's eyes, Palpatine's eye as his. Sidious' contact lenses. In other words, my face was his mask." Which is an extremely interesting thing to say to an actor. And I knew that in Episode III, as you all did really, that this face would have to burst through my own mask. So, in a sense, I couldn't wait. And I also knew that they would mix it brilliantly - Rob [Coleman] and others - from one face into another. And it would be my sort of Dr. Jekyll Mr., Hyde moment, Dorian Grey moment, when outer good is subverted by inner evil. So I was really looking forward to it and at the moment when Palpatine's voice turns to - oh, you almost got an excerpt! - from one to the other, from lightish grey to dark black. So it was a moment I was really looking forward to and one that I embraced. An when we were filming it, George got closer and closer and closer with that camera-he was practically at my nose for the final shot! So I knew it was a moment I had to do my best to get right.
Q: What's your opinion of the use of the Emperor as an image in newspapers of modern politicians?
McDiarmid: He was a politician and he turned out to be an evil monster. That's not too difficult a story to follow-either in Star Wars or if you happen to be looking at the front of any newspaper in practically any country. If you come from England, you could bring a few to mind. And if you come from the United States, you're not short of candidates there at times. What I think and hope, frankly, and this is me talking, that when people do watch this film as you now can chronologically (or will be able to in a couple weeks), that they'll see lots of things that they hadn't seen before. They'll not just see a great storyteller in operation - George, we all know that - but they'll see that many other layers emerge. And the one that interests me most, perhaps, not unnaturally if I play the character, is the chart. The chart of the rise of evil, facism if you like. And it's very carefully plotted in the film. Not just through my character, but through organizations like the Trade Federation. Now I bet some of you in this room have not found the Trade Federation fascinating. This may change when you watch the films in sequence because you will see how my character was manipulating quietly, steadily, patiently (the key word) all the time. And my conclusion as the result of all that is not just that George is a good filmmaker and a great storytelling, but he is a pretty astute analyst of the politics of power.
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