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Ian McDiarmid on Return for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Reveals How George Lucas Told Him Palpatine Was ‘Dead’ for Good

December 26, 2019 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Emperor Palpatine Star Wars

Speaking to Digital Spy (via Indiewire) at the UK premiere for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine actor Ian McDiarmid discussed the return of the character for the film and how he didn’t expect him to ever come back.

McDiarmid revealed that he asked George Lucas when Palpatine was thrown down a shaft in the Death Star II in Return of the Jedi, he asked Star Wars creator George Lucas if Palpatine could return. Lucas said no and that Palpatine was unequivocally “dead.” McDiarmid would go on to reprise the role in the Prequel Trilogy, showing how Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo became Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire. McDiarmid stated the following on the character and how surprised he was by his latest return for the Sequel Trilogy:

“I thought I was dead! I thought he was dead. Because when we did ‘Return of the Jedi,’ and I was thrown down that chute to Galactic Hell, he was dead. And I said, ‘Oh, does he come back?’ And [George Lucas] said, ‘No, he’s dead.’ So I just accepted that. But then, of course, I didn’t know I was going to be doing the prequels, so in a sense he wasn’t dead, because we went back to revisit him when he was a young man. But I was totally surprised by this.”

You can check out 411’s official review of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker RIGHT HERE.