Biografia

Based his character Emperor Palpatine's unusual voice on the Japanese method of using your stomach to project yourself. The result was a strange, guttural croak that Lucas decided was perfect for the character of Palpatine. In an earlier draft of Star Wars: Episódio V - O Império Contra-Ataca (1980), the Emperor was described as having a voice that was even deeper and more terrifying than Darth Vader's.

In an odd twist of fate, he played an elderly, disfigured Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episódio VI - O Retorno de Jedi (1983), and then went on to play a younger version of that character, some 20 years later, in the Star Wars prequels.

In 1982, he played Harry Hackamore, a Howard Hughes-type character, in the play, "Seduced", by Sam Shepard. This showed his ability to convincingly play, in close-up, a character much older than himself. This is what attracted the attention of George Lucas and Richard Marquand, who decided that he could play the Emperor in Star Wars: Episódio VI - O Retorno de Jedi (1983), which was already in production at the time.

Has appeared with his drama school classmate Denis Lawson in Star Wars: Episódio VI - O Retorno de Jedi (1983) and with Lawson's nephew Ewan McGregor in Karaoke (1996), Star Wars: Episódio I - A Ameaça Fantasma (1999), Star Wars: Episódio II - Ataque dos Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episódio III - A Vingança dos Sith (2005).

Was very good friends with fellow Star Wars cast member Sebastian Shaw.

As an actor, you find yourself in many unusual places.

[on his co-star Yoda in the Star Wars films] He's terrible. Never turns up. Sends his funny little dummy that gets moved around... most unprofessional.

[on digitally replacing Clive Revill in the DVD release of Star Wars: Episódio V - O Império Contra-Ataca (1980)] George felt that it was just and proper. When he made Empire, we hadn't met, and he didn't have a particular idea of who would play the Emperor or how the character would develop. And he had no notion that he would do the backstory - Episodes I, II, and III. So whoever played the Emperor in a mask and added to Revill's voice wouldn't seem authentic to the people who are going to watch the entire saga in the right order. It wouldn't make any sense. Since I was the Emperor [in the other Star Wars films], it felt appropriate that I should be inserted into Empire, and that's what George did.

And then of course I thought Palpatine was a pretty good character. I like the notion that he didn't have any psychological subtlety or depth, that he was just solidly evil and the dirtiest word in his vocabulary was 'friend'. I thought that was terrific.

That's a pattern I'm very happy with. I mean I take theater seriously and I am primarily a stage actor and every now and again a movie comes along and I'm happy to do it if the part's good.