Ian McDiarmid Discusses Palpatine’s Return, Stating “He Always Had A Plan B”
In another snippet from Empire Magazine’s latest issue, the esteemed actor Ian McDiarmid shared his thoughts about Palpatine’s return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Even though the topic has received many complaints and endless memes, McDiarmid thinks it is in line with the character, stating “Palpatine always had a plan B.”
One positive aspect that McDiarmid points out about Palpatine’s return is that he is now a recurring theme throughout all of Star Wars. McDiarmid explains how that is an honor for him and how not many movie villains get to have that level of importance:
“The thing that I’m most pleased about, and you know, this only came to a head when they asked me to come back for The Rise Of Skywalker, is that every single evil act in all of the Star Wars franchise is either directly or indirectly down to that character. That is total evil, and that’s strangely satisfying as an arc. I do feel fortunate to have been able to do it — and other villains of cinema now have to compete with that.”
Regarding The Emperor’s return, Ian McDiarmid shared how he himself thought the character was done for. But regardless of his — or other’s personal opinions — he provided his diegetic explanation as to how the character was able to come back:
“A lot of people said it was ridiculous. Of course, he was dead at the end of Return Of The Jedi! And frankly, I think George thought he’d killed me too. But J.J. thought it would be a good idea — I wasn’t going to argue with him.
I felt that Palpatine always had a plan B — probably a plan C, D, E, and F as well. And he was an expert in cloning, so…”
Finally, in a bit of humor, McDiarmid was asked about whether or not The Emperor actually gets it on, if he did in fact have children. To which, the award-winning thespian said:
“Please don’t pursue that line too vigorously. But yes, he does [have sex]. It’s a horrible idea to think of Palpatine having sex in any shape or form. But then, of course, perhaps he didn’t.
Maybe it’s all to do with midi-chlorians — and don’t ask me what those are. Never trust your granddaughter. That’s the T-shirt Palpatine got made. Shortly after his death. The Palpatine family reunion is sure to be an awkward one.”
Over the past few days, many actors have expressed their thoughts about the series in Empire Magazine’s 25th anniversary special about the prequel movies. Some of the recently featured actors include Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson. Expect more juicy quotes to pop-up as the issue hits shelves on February 15.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
