‘Star Wars’ Celebration: “Villains of the Sequel Trilogy” Panel Recap
Day 3 of the Star Wars Celebration 2023 event in London featured a “Villains of the Sequel Trilogy” panel with Ian McDiarmid, Andy Serkis, and Gwendoline Christie, who played Emperor Palpatine, Supreme Leader Snoke, and Captain Phasma, respectively.
Amy Ratcliffe was the host and asked several questions throughout the panel. Unsurprisingly, some responses were really insightful and funny.
Ratcliffe began the discussion by asking each actor who their favorite villain was when growing up; Andy Serkis had been mentally scarred by many characters during his childhood, but Christopher Lee’s Dracula was the one he remembered the most because he was entranced and utterly terrified by him. And… he also wanted to be him.
Gwendoline Christie had an interesting favorite evil character from the movie 101 Dalmatians:
I remember being absolutely terrified by Cruella de Vil. I think it was this idea of a woman being the “anti-mother”. A woman who was not at all about nurturing. A woman who was really complex and prepared to go to any lengths. Terrifying and beguiling.
Veteran Star Wars actor Ian McDiarmid agreed with Andy Serkis’ choice for his childhood villain; Christopher Lee was his favourite villain when he was younger too. He even got to meet him and talked to him about the character. He also mentioned Boris Karloff as the monster in Frankenstein; he was given power but not freedom, and that kind of conflict excited him when he was a kid.
Ratcliffe then asked each actor to talk about their characters as played in the sequel trilogy. When discussing Gwendoline Christie’s role as Captain Phasma, the host pointed out that we don’t know a lot about Phasma’s backstory and that we can’t even see her face:
I immediately loved the idea of Captain Phasma. I loved the idea of a female stormtrooper. And I also loved the opportunity to bring to life a woman who is ruthless. Who is hell-bent on achieving her own ends at any cost.
Andy Serkis opened up about his deep connection to the character of Supreme Leader Snoke:
I was fascinated by the character when J.J. Abrams and I started to discuss it. I felt that Snoke was the Supreme Leader and had all of this power, (but) he was carrying this immense pain to do with his disfigurement and being a clone trying to forge his own identity. He leans into the dictator playbook of course, but I wanted to bring some kind of failure and humanity to him that kept him wanting this power at all costs. The sense of betrayal that happens to him. The desperation of hanging onto power and seeing it sliding away — what that felt like which formed the characterisation (for Snoke).
Ian McDiarmid talked about how he incorporates or approaches what he reads from the fans about his character online:
Fans have great ideas, and often I hope that’s going to happen. I’m sure Lucasfilm pays a lot of attention to that too. And then, of course, there’s the whole literature side — the books. And of course, over the years, that’s developed into a whole series of films and television programs, all of which are to do with the backstory or back world of Star Wars in comparison with the films. But that sort of indicates the enormous richness of George’s original idea.
One of the final questions Ratcliffe asked the actors was whether or not they had taken any of the movie props home. Gwendoline and Andy said they had never taken any props from the set. Ian McDiarmid playfully replied, “he got nothing because there wasn’t much to give”.
The entire panel can now be viewed online via the official Star Wars YouTube channel.
Meet Julie Gray, a passionate pop culture writer from Aotearoa, New Zealand. A lifelong Star Wars fan, her love for the franchise runs deep, with Luke Skywalker being her all-time favourite character and Anakin Skywalker coming in as a close second. Her outlook on the Star Wars universe is simple yet powerful - "All Star Wars is good Star Wars", a true testament to her undying love for this iconic franchise.
