Quotes

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: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (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.

[on his role as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars] To wear the costume to play the character I'm playing is wonderfully empowering. The colors, the textures... people keep coming up to me and saying, "Is it rubber? Is it leather?" I don't quite know what it is. It feels reptilian, which is exactly right.

I don't do the signings and public appearances. A lot of people do and make a lot of money out of them - and good luck to them. I'm not ruling it out forever, though. One day I may be really poor.

[To George Lucas] I haven't seen that shiny helmet for a long time.

[on reprising his role for the Star Wars prequel trilogy] I was the right age, ironically, for the first prequel when it was made. ... So I was in the very strange and rather wonderful paradox of playing myself when young at my own age, having played myself previously when 100-and-I-don't-know-what.

[on the Emperor's return in 'The Rise of Skywalker'] 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...