Ian McDiarmid

Ian McDiarmid (born August 11, 1944) is a Scottish actor born in Carnoustie in Tayside. He was educated at St Andrews University and the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow.

Star Wars

McDiarmid is mostly a stage actor, but in recent years has probably become best known for his appearances in Star Wars as Palpatine, the cunning politician who eventually becomes ruler of the Galactic Empire. First playing the Emperor in , and then as a younger Senator and Chancellor Palpatine in Episodes I-III, he is one of the few actors who has depicted the same character in both of the Star Wars trilogies (as well as playing a younger version of the character as an older actor).

Related Topics:
Star Wars - Palpatine - Politician - The Galactic Empire - Chancellor

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In the 2004 re-release of ', a brief scene between Darth Vader and a hologram of Emperor Palpatine was updated to have him depicted by McDiarmid (the Emperor was originally voiced by Clive Revill for that scene and the face on the projector was that of a woman). With this addition to , McDiarmid has now appeared in at least one version of every film in which Palpatine appears.

Related Topics:
2004 re-release - Darth Vader - Hologram - Clive Revill - Woman

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He was a relatively unknown charismatic stage actor in his thirties when he was cast as the most powerful being in the Star Wars universe. He had previously achieved little recognition for his role, until 1999 when he was called back to reprise the role in the prequels. While other non-human roles, such as Yoda, R2-D2, C-3PO and eventually Chewbacca, were all played by their original actors, all the other human roles were recast with younger actors. McDiarmid has the distinction of being the only human actor to reprise his role, an opportunity that he attributes to having been so much younger than his character the first time he played the part. The prequels had him play two faces to his character. He re-created the character from when playing Darth Sidious, but created a different, more attractive, pleasant, and seductive character in playing Palpatine. While he had received some praise from fans, he received widespread attention for his expanded role in the prequels.

Related Topics:
Star Wars universe - Prequels - Yoda - R2-D2 - C-3PO - Chewbacca - Palpatine

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