He is the same actor from Return of the Jedi. He was a young actor that played an older emperor. When the prequels came around, if I understood correctly, George asked him to play Senator Palpatine, who will turn into chancellor, then who would become the emperor. He said yes to George, and I'm the only one in my family that recognized Sir Ian's voice as the emperor from Return of the Jedi.
So true. But the real reason I'm replying is to ask: since when did people start saying "casted" instead of just "cast" for past tense? It's grinding my gears. Pardon me for being slightly triggered.
100%, say what you want about some of the acting or line deliveries, but there’s no denying that Star Wars has had some of the greatest casting for their characters in film history
He was 40 years old in the original trilogy, and 55 years old at the beginning of the prequel trilogy, and now he's 80. Long life to you legend. Thank you very much for our childhood and youth, at least mine.
Well, that was a combination of both his own Darth Sidious voice and electronic modulation to create the effect of the Dark Side working through him to transform Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.
@@andrewlaverghetta715 first time I heard 'basilica' was from Assassin's Creed, another favorite word which rolls off the tongue, but so rarely used much to my dismay
"And you young skywalker, we will watch your career with much interest"....as a passing comment at end of Phantom Menace. The "young skywalker" part, pretty much the same as how he addressed Luke "It is you, young skywalker who are gravely mistaken....about a great many things. You, like your father are now mine!"
My favorite villian of all time. He just oozes evil, malevolence, cunning, and confidence. He's so calm and assured of himself and his actions that even though he appears a frail, disfigured, old man, you sense intrinsically that he has immense power, a perfect evil contrast to Yoda. Such a Great preformance in all the movies but in ROTJ in particular, it's the stuff of legends. Here sits the man that even Darth Vader bows too and will not cross, in the theater seeing that after two movies thinking Vader was the most evil, was truly an amazing experience.
Yep. I'm all for villains with backstories and justifications, where you could almost agree with them. But sometimes you just need an evil bastard who loves being evil. "So this Palpatine guy, what's his motivation?" "POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!!"
Agreed, but also, a reason I enjoy Palpatine as a villain is the ham and energy McDiarmid brings to the role. The man clearly had a blast as that character. He's the best thing in RotS.
@@dsjoerg Cool but not as nuanced; he was playing himself a lot, as awesome as his self is. Actually, I take that back---his performance in Regarding Henry was mind-blowing, so yeah, I'm with you on that, it's a battle between Han and Palpatine (Han cheats by laser blasting his head off during the weigh in).
I respect that Ian doesn't dismiss Clive Revill as an incorrect or inferior version of the Emperor but acknowledges that he was simply able to have a different perspective on the character due to the new prosthetics. It's a very humble and respectful thing to do and shows how classy of a performer he is.
@@doomsdayrabbit4398 simply an unenviable position as an artist and frankly, and tbh I am bored on a Thursday so I am going to go on a tangent while I know this is controversial to say, shows there there was sense of Luas going back and doing director's cuts. I think sadly Lucas just incorrectly judged that he should just release the Director's Cuts and was so roundly ridiculed that it bordered on public shaming. I don't artistically defend how that was handled but I do respect the fact that Lucas's desire to introduce improved elements to create a more realized film was not coming from a malicious or egotistical place. Lucas's pioneering of computer effects and incredible talents he found in actors like McDiarmid were because he always saw stars as on ongoing commit to give the best version of his art he could.
@@TheJimmyp427 "why don't you go and cry about panda me or panda bear or whatever the hell her name is. Omg are you crying!?" Robot chicken for the win
@@jamescleveland2934 Family Guy fans don't usually make it this deep into Star Wars stuff unless they are also Star Wars fans and then that is probably the furthest thing from their mind
I find it fascinating that Diarmid was able to play the character through both iterations of Star Wars films. Fascinating connective tissue. Having said that, I'm never going to be very happy about his character being 'brought back', somehow alive, but that's Hollywood for you.
Exactly. It's poised, it's calm, but it's vicious, like a coiled snake that could strike at any moment. It's full of arrogance, but the kind of arrogance that's earned. Man's been the top dog in the galaxy for decades, and successfully played both sides of a devastating war to put himself in that position. He's earned that arrogance
The look may have inspired the voice, but the realism of Palpatine brought to the big screen was inspired by the legendary performance of Ian McDiardmid.
It takes a true genius actor to create an iconic character through their acting, and it takes a good Director and good writing to truly make that iconic character into a legend
Man has asmr as a voice bruh can put me to sleep (in the good way he has such a soothing voice when he talks as himself) I sincerely wanna fall asleep to him reading a fantasy novel like Star Wars or something.
In ROTJ he nailed the voice for his character. In Phantom Menace it was so cool to see his 2 personalities, he had that innocent side (deceivingly hiding from the true Sith Emperor) and talked in his normal voice. And then his true Emperor voice in the beginning hologram “I will make it legal”
He did narrated versions of the original trilogy soundtracks where he'd recount the story in between selections of John Williams' music and the occasional character dialogue soundbyte. Some of that material is here on RUclips.
That’s the voice we all loved in Return of the Jedi, that “lack ot vision” mixed with the face rictus while shocking Luke with the force lighting. That’s the OG emperor for me. And than the prequels came and we got the full service, and the introduction of the Tragedy Of Darth Pleiguis The Wise, cherry on top. That’s the voice of THE number one vilain in the history of vilains.
I'm so glad George and others understood the brilliance of Ian's voice work, cause tbh...those lines delivered the Clive Revel way would not have hit anywhere close to as hard without that extra spice to it 😂Straight up, I think his voice is my favorite part about the character. It reveals Palpatine's black soul even more than his appearance.
Palpatine's voice is an absolute gem, it's so sly and sinister and devilish and manipulative, I love it. No wonder it became an absolute icon of memes.
This underscores how much goes into the making of an epic movie. Here is this thing that barely registers consciously to the viewer, the tone of a villain's voice. Sure, it conveys his character attributes, gives a bit of emotional context, but it's still just a voice. But then behind the scenes, here is an entire process within the filmmaking about choosing that voice, evolving it, with seasoned professionals involved. A director who's been given control over millions in budget to bring the story to market. An actor with a lifetime of experience and training in his craft. All of this focus and work, brought together to bring that tone of voice to that character onscreen, so that I can feel some kind of way about it. Phenomenal franchise!
The delivery was as important as the voice itself. The way he would put emphasis on words at just the right time and place was masterful, and the different tones that he could use with the voice were a work of art. I've always grinned a bit every time I hear "Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will quite operational when your friends arrive.." in that mocking and sarcastic tone.
Even though most hated they brought Emperor Palpatine back in the sequel trilogy, I’m at least glad they at least got Ian McDairmid back for him than some other actor.
Ian was also in the movie “Dragonslayer” back in ‘81 and he played a priest who gets pretty much cooked by the dragon. It was cool. 😌😁 His character’s last words were pretty much, “Unclean beast! Get thee down!!!”
I'm ngl, Ian's performance is the reason I actually enjoyed myself in the theater during RoS. It was only later when everyone started pointing out all the mistakes with the movie that I started hating it. When I was watching it, I didn't even really think about any of it. Didn't think of Anakin's legacy. I was just enjoying Ian's performance and watching the Emperor blast an entire fleet with a Force Storm. Man, I kinda wish I never read about all the flaws online. Don't get me wrong, information is power, but if it wasn't for social media, I never would have known about all the mistakes. I would have just enjoyed a movie and probably would have rewatched it a couple of times
100 points for the use of "sepulchral" !!
Yes, he's British. That's called an education.
@@jondunmore4268that’s a crazy comment. I bet 99% of British people do not know the word sepulchral.
@@covenant20 too right, i'm not british but i pertends to be often, i do, and i agree with this statement
@@Nefylymplease don't
I didn't realize the Scottish people knew words like that! Oh wait, he's spent a lot of time in England, never mind.
His NORMAL voice sounds like a Jedi Palpatine. 😂
Now imagine Palpatine as Jedi master.
THE SUPREME CHANCELOR AKA LORD DARTH SIDIOUS AKA CHICHARRÓN SHEEV PALPANTINE THE MÁSTER OFF THE DARKSIDES OFF THE EXOUNIVERSE !
the guy playing the character sounds like him weird who would've thought
Legendary comment
I would love to see Ian play a jedi Palpatine. The man is a real pro.
He's good. I shall watch his career with great interest.
haha I see what you did there.
Didyooevahheah the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise?
@@yourstruly4817 Didn't realise Gambit was a sith lord all along.
🤣🤣🤣
Lol. Bingo
Ian McDiarmid's Palpatine performance absolutely made the prequels great.
Indeed. Some actors / characters were ill chosen but Ian / Palpatine was very good. They should make a Sith movie instead of boring Jedi's.
Unfortunately it didn't because they're still bad but it certainly was a great performance.
He is the same actor from Return of the Jedi. He was a young actor that played an older emperor. When the prequels came around, if I understood correctly, George asked him to play Senator Palpatine, who will turn into chancellor, then who would become the emperor. He said yes to George, and I'm the only one in my family that recognized Sir Ian's voice as the emperor from Return of the Jedi.
No, it the Prequels watchable.
He originally wasn't in two of the three.
To think he was under 40 when he first played “The Emperor”. That in it of itself is mind blowing. Unbelievably underrated actor!
What?
There's no way he was in his 30s
@@NRG56 He sure was. Good makeup does amazing things. It’s pretty easy to look it up on Google
He is like reverse Paul Rudd in real life when it comes to aging so I’m not shocked
@@jtpj4245 "reverse Paul Rudd" is a neat trick, when he was 20 years older in the prequels than when he played a much older person 20 years earlier.
What a legend ! They couldn’t have casted a better actor for this character
Exactly
So true. But the real reason I'm replying is to ask: since when did people start saying "casted" instead of just "cast" for past tense? It's grinding my gears. Pardon me for being slightly triggered.
100%, say what you want about some of the acting or line deliveries, but there’s no denying that Star Wars has had some of the greatest casting for their characters in film history
So what you're saying is "Gooooooood"
cast*
"Cast" is the past tense of "cast".
I can hear George Lucas telling McDiarmind ….”DO IT!!!”
Dew it
DEW IT!!
Stew it😂 sorry I had to DEW IT
He was 40 years old in the original trilogy, and 55 years old at the beginning of the prequel trilogy, and now he's 80. Long life to you legend. Thank you very much for our childhood and youth, at least mine.
Mine as well. The emperor is one of the best characters in the series.
Prequels were 25 years ago? Ugh, old moment.
He looks 80 in the prequels wtf
@marianopie3785 when RotS released he was around 61. But they used makeup to have his appearance look even older
The way they made his voice sound for "henceforth you shall be known as.... Darth.... Vader" still sticks with me today
..."Lord Vader...
...rise"...
And the look of him basking in the Dark Side at that moment.
Rocket Racoon: Are you making your voice deeper?
Well, that was a combination of both his own Darth Sidious voice and electronic modulation to create the effect of the Dark Side working through him to transform Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.
Makes your hair stand up that’s why episode three is my personal favorite hard movie to beat
Sepulchral is the best word ever.
Yes! 👍
Be honest, you googled it too
@@Spidersapien5 honest, I read the Bible. Allot. Jesus was resurrected from a sepulchre. Never heard it used this way before.
@@omegahyperes96also just a common part of churches, basilicas I think.
@@andrewlaverghetta715 first time I heard 'basilica' was from Assassin's Creed, another favorite word which rolls off the tongue, but so rarely used much to my dismay
How does he sound malicious even when he’s talking about the most mundane things? Truly perfect casting.
"I can sense your French. Toast... and yo scrambled EGGS."
*Denny's waitress runs away in fear*
"And you young skywalker, we will watch your career with much interest"....as a passing comment at end of Phantom Menace. The "young skywalker" part, pretty much the same as how he addressed Luke "It is you, young skywalker who are gravely mistaken....about a great many things. You, like your father are now mine!"
He could talk about his morning routine and favorite breakfast and it would still sound evil
My favorite villian of all time. He just oozes evil, malevolence, cunning, and confidence. He's so calm and assured of himself and his actions that even though he appears a frail, disfigured, old man, you sense intrinsically that he has immense power, a perfect evil contrast to Yoda. Such a Great preformance in all the movies but in ROTJ in particular, it's the stuff of legends. Here sits the man that even Darth Vader bows too and will not cross, in the theater seeing that after two movies thinking Vader was the most evil, was truly an amazing experience.
Yep. I'm all for villains with backstories and justifications, where you could almost agree with them. But sometimes you just need an evil bastard who loves being evil.
"So this Palpatine guy, what's his motivation?"
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!!"
This, but for a non-villain called Isshin Ashina
Please watch Peter Skarsgard in the new Dune movies
Agreed, but also, a reason I enjoy Palpatine as a villain is the ham and energy McDiarmid brings to the role. The man clearly had a blast as that character. He's the best thing in RotS.
Yoda also was a old man, he was even upset with R2 for no reason whatsoever at one point. But hw was fuccing Yoda
The longer Disney has Star Wars, the more I appreciate the old stuff.
I think we can all agree that one good change made to the originals, was adding Ian McDiarmid retroactively as Sidious.
There's no denying that, adding the real emperor in that one scene was far better than what they had there originally.
[All the special edition haters] THEY'RE STILL BAD
Actually the best performance in all of Star Wars
Fair but let's not forget Harrison Ford
@@dsjoerg Cool but not as nuanced; he was playing himself a lot, as awesome as his self is. Actually, I take that back---his performance in Regarding Henry was mind-blowing, so yeah, I'm with you on that, it's a battle between Han and Palpatine (Han cheats by laser blasting his head off during the weigh in).
Ewan McGregor has entered the chat
Frank Oz though
@@ztoxtube Damn, forgot about him---he wins!
Sepulchral is not a word you hear every day. What a legend this guy is.
I respect that Ian doesn't dismiss Clive Revill as an incorrect or inferior version of the Emperor but acknowledges that he was simply able to have a different perspective on the character due to the new prosthetics. It's a very humble and respectful thing to do and shows how classy of a performer he is.
Revill only did the voice, even. The image was a woman wrapped in a scarf with chimp eyes over top.
@@doomsdayrabbit4398 simply an unenviable position as an artist and frankly, and tbh I am bored on a Thursday so I am going to go on a tangent
while I know this is controversial to say, shows there there was sense of Luas going back and doing director's cuts. I think sadly Lucas just incorrectly judged that he should just release the Director's Cuts and was so roundly ridiculed that it bordered on public shaming. I don't artistically defend how that was handled but I do respect the fact that Lucas's desire to introduce improved elements to create a more realized film was not coming from a malicious or egotistical place. Lucas's pioneering of computer effects and incredible talents he found in actors like McDiarmid were because he always saw stars as on ongoing commit to give the best version of his art he could.
"Something something dark side...
Something something... complete."
The formula for great dialogue
"Oh I think you'll find the shield generator quite operational when your rebel friends arrive."
"Christ, you don't have to be a dick about it."
Surprised I had to scroll so far for this comment
@@TheJimmyp427 "why don't you go and cry about panda me or panda bear or whatever the hell her name is.
Omg are you crying!?"
Robot chicken for the win
@@jamescleveland2934 Family Guy fans don't usually make it this deep into Star Wars stuff unless they are also Star Wars fans and then that is probably the furthest thing from their mind
I find it fascinating that Diarmid was able to play the character through both iterations of Star Wars films. Fascinating connective tissue. Having said that, I'm never going to be very happy about his character being 'brought back', somehow alive, but that's Hollywood for you.
Yeah, that's not his fault. Those latest movies were an absolute travesty, though.
His resurrection was the more satisfying part of their attempt at incorporating the star wars comics ideas into the new movies
@@themanshan1people keep forgetting that Palpatine did return in the comics
@@rossomgamming7017I remember the action figure line but never got the comics, I would’ve loved to have that Palpatine figure!
Palpatine's voice is so full of venom. It is perfect
Exactly. It's poised, it's calm, but it's vicious, like a coiled snake that could strike at any moment. It's full of arrogance, but the kind of arrogance that's earned. Man's been the top dog in the galaxy for decades, and successfully played both sides of a devastating war to put himself in that position. He's earned that arrogance
The look may have inspired the voice, but the realism of Palpatine brought to the big screen was inspired by the legendary performance of Ian McDiardmid.
A great classical actor. He brings the character to life and makes them so iconic and real.
Sepulchral! Now that's a name that I've haven't heard in a long-long time..
Do you know him?
Did he own any droids?
Top marks
It is the name of your true self, you’ve only forgotten
He was also a good friend.
The way this man speaks is poetic af
And with that decision he obtained 'UNLIMITED POWER!' 😁😁
He should have won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the Emperor in the Return of The Jedi.
"It's treason then!"
Dude flat Luganised “sepulchral”. Respect.
What does Luganised mean?
@@rayanmoradi1189 I looked it up, and the word seems to be utter nonsense.
I still love his lines, "wipe them out...all of them"
Sepulchral, fantastic word
What a wonderfully eloquent and elegant man
It takes a true genius actor to create an iconic character through their acting, and it takes a good Director and good writing to truly make that iconic character into a legend
This guy nailed it. Might be personally one of my favorite characters of all time.
I like how he so easily can switch to character.
...or two.
One of the best and most under-rated villains of all time. McDermaid was brilliant!
Underrated by whom?!
“Sepulchral” what a wonderful expansive vocabulary ian has, to be so delightfully descriptive ❤❤❤
Ian McDiarmid is a goddamned treasure
I got to meet him at comicon kc this year. He was super cool
His voice is second only to Darth Vader.
Who james earl jones😅
@@chadmabe7069 Rest in peace.
Chewbacca: RRWWGGG, "am I", HNNNNNGG, "a joke" RAWWGWWHGGRR "to you?"
“You are fulfilling your destiny”
I could listen to this man talk for ages such a great voice
Man has asmr as a voice bruh can put me to sleep (in the good way he has such a soothing voice when he talks as himself) I sincerely wanna fall asleep to him reading a fantasy novel like Star Wars or something.
He did the narration for an audiobook of Paradise Lost. That's a good time if you're into that.
@@occam7382 thanks homie
In ROTJ he nailed the voice for his character.
In Phantom Menace it was so cool to see his 2 personalities, he had that innocent side (deceivingly hiding from the true Sith Emperor) and talked in his normal voice. And then his true Emperor voice in the beginning hologram “I will make it legal”
He did narrated versions of the original trilogy soundtracks where he'd recount the story in between selections of John Williams' music and the occasional character dialogue soundbyte. Some of that material is here on RUclips.
A great actor indeed blessing to him
Best performer and character in the entire Star Wars universe.
It is a very rare day I learn a new word. Sepulchral. Well done.
Incredible casting
Quite possibly my favorite villain played by the most brilliant actor!
That’s the voice we all loved in Return of the Jedi, that “lack ot vision” mixed with the face rictus while shocking Luke with the force lighting.
That’s the OG emperor for me.
And than the prequels came and we got the full service, and the introduction of the Tragedy Of Darth Pleiguis The Wise, cherry on top.
That’s the voice of THE number one vilain in the history of vilains.
Ian's Palpatine voice is perfect for the character no one else can play him.
I was the emporer for halloween in 5th grade. ive always loved that character.
Its amazing how young he was when he first played Palpatine! One of the most interesting supervillains of all time imo!
Yeah, his and Vader's voice just hits right to this day.
I'm so glad George and others understood the brilliance of Ian's voice work, cause tbh...those lines delivered the Clive Revel way would not have hit anywhere close to as hard without that extra spice to it 😂Straight up, I think his voice is my favorite part about the character. It reveals Palpatine's black soul even more than his appearance.
Dew it
You did well Anikan
@@handj4eternitywho's Anikan?
😂😂@@DarthOblivious7891
I'll dew it! To your mama!
@@handj4eternity*Anakin.
His voice is so soft spoken and relaxing
"sepulchral". What a wonderful word. I'm gonna have to find somewhere to use it now.
McDiarmid has one of the most satisfying voices of all time, even when he's not acting
I love when he says, "deeper...more sepulchral...more horrible" he has an ever so slight sneer just like the emperor 😅
I like how the voice pops in and out during this interview
Palpatine's voice is an absolute gem, it's so sly and sinister and devilish and manipulative, I love it. No wonder it became an absolute icon of memes.
This underscores how much goes into the making of an epic movie. Here is this thing that barely registers consciously to the viewer, the tone of a villain's voice. Sure, it conveys his character attributes, gives a bit of emotional context, but it's still just a voice. But then behind the scenes, here is an entire process within the filmmaking about choosing that voice, evolving it, with seasoned professionals involved. A director who's been given control over millions in budget to bring the story to market. An actor with a lifetime of experience and training in his craft. All of this focus and work, brought together to bring that tone of voice to that character onscreen, so that I can feel some kind of way about it. Phenomenal franchise!
he made the emperor sound deep, but also hollow, menacing
It is truly a joy to hear the creative process of how an actor changes their speech patterns and posture to match the minds eye of that character.
Now witness the power of this armed and fully operational emperor voice!
Damn his normal voice is so rich
Slight Difference in the deepness or maybe just in the recording equipment that can pick up that soothing bass
Just hearing him talk is making me not believe a single word he says 😂 Bravo Vince
Bros voice is so calm
I'll always remember him playing inspector morses nemesis.The episode was called masonic mysteries.Ian was chilling in it
One of my absolute favorites!
Hugo De-Fries.
He scratched masonic symbols on morses precious car 🚗
"Magic", is best made naturally. This is just another perfect example of natural talent in action..being appreciated.
i love that word sepulchral - this is the only use of the word I have ever seen
I'm so blessed to be alive at the same time as Ian. Him and James Earl Jones (RIP 😢) played the best villainous duo in all of cinema thus far.
Saw him in Gorky Park; great actor!
Iconic villain dude won't be forgotten in history for being the emperor I know that what a great actor and how he made that role
His performance was and is amazing.
Ian takes "camp" and makes it gold, THAT'S how good he is!
He is Palpatine.
The delivery was as important as the voice itself. The way he would put emphasis on words at just the right time and place was masterful, and the different tones that he could use with the voice were a work of art. I've always grinned a bit every time I hear "Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will quite operational when your friends arrive.." in that mocking and sarcastic tone.
Even though most hated they brought Emperor Palpatine back in the sequel trilogy, I’m at least glad they at least got Ian McDairmid back for him than some other actor.
That voice is now iconic!
"the emperor... sort of arrived"
The emperor arrived when you showed up on set bro
His voice and his acting’s rest are extremely good in all STAR WARS films he’s in! 💪
Love how Ian was in his 30s at that time. Palpy was 38-39, my age. Wow.
That voice he created was money
Palpatine is the most compelling villain, because he seems to enjoy being arrogant and evil!
Ian was also in the movie “Dragonslayer” back in ‘81 and he played a priest who gets pretty much cooked by the dragon. It was cool. 😌😁 His character’s last words were pretty much, “Unclean beast! Get thee down!!!”
"The dark side of the force is powerful ".
and Sepulchral.
I loved him in the prequels too. The way he can flip the switch to chancellor to evil sith lord so fluidly is amazing
"DO IT!"
I remember as a kid recognizing him in Return of the Jedi and the prequels thinking “how is that the same guy? He’s older when he was younger”
He just walked up to George and said "Do it. Do it do it do it do it do it"
He is such an insanely talented actor
He couldn't save the sequel trilogy, but he was amazing in every other movie.
The Senate always delivers but even he couldn’t save that mess.😂
I'm ngl, Ian's performance is the reason I actually enjoyed myself in the theater during RoS. It was only later when everyone started pointing out all the mistakes with the movie that I started hating it. When I was watching it, I didn't even really think about any of it. Didn't think of Anakin's legacy. I was just enjoying Ian's performance and watching the Emperor blast an entire fleet with a Force Storm. Man, I kinda wish I never read about all the flaws online. Don't get me wrong, information is power, but if it wasn't for social media, I never would have known about all the mistakes. I would have just enjoyed a movie and probably would have rewatched it a couple of times
Hated as a character for being the final evil boss but loved as a majestic Actor with INCREDIBLE skills!!!
Tom Hiddleston should play palpatine in his young years
He was the perfect choice. He nailed every part he was in. I could not see anyone else playing Palpatine or his performance.
I still can’t grasp that he somehow returned.
More sepulchral... wow... who would use that word?
Ian is a treasure 💙
Any one who speaks English 🏴
He looks like Simon Pegg’s dad
Or Jason Isaacs'
The iconic Emperor!!! ❤ glad to see an interview.
The voice of Satan in the audiobook of "Paradise Lost".
@@DM_Curtis Yes! Great performance!
He is such amazing actor, bravooooo Ian 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👍🏼