In the 2004 re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, a brief scene between Darth Vader and a hologram of Emperor Palpatine was updated to include McDiarmid. McDiarmid returned to the role of Palpatine on screen for the first time since Revenge of the Sith in the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker, the third film in the sequel trilogy, and the ninth and final episode in the Skywalker saga. The prequels had him play two faces to his character he re-created his diabolical interpretation of Palpatine from Return of the Jedi when playing Darth Sidious, the Chancellor's Sith alter ego, but created a pleasant, charming character in Palpatine's public persona. CNN named McDiarmid fourth in their top 10 British villains, stating it was his "darkly seductive voice" that "stole the show", and it was a "masterclass in ruling through fear and manipulation." Sixteen years after Return of the Jedi, he reprised the role as the character's younger incarnation of Senator (and later Chancellor) Palpatine and Sith Lord Darth Sidious in the prequel films: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. McDiarmid's robes from Return of the Jedi (1983) on display at the Detroit Institute of ArtsĪfter a minor part in the film Dragonslayer (1981), McDiarmid was cast by George Lucas in Return of the Jedi (1983) as Emperor Palpatine, the main villain. McDiarmid was only 37 at the time, and this convinced George Lucas and Richard Marquand that he could convincingly play a much older character in extreme cinematic close-up, which helped him land the role of Palpatine. To play the part, he was made up in prosthetics, including a false beard and long fingernails. McDiarmid described Hackamore as a Howard Hughes-type character.
He portrayed Harry Hackamore in Sam Shepard's play Seduced. From April to June 2012, he played the title role in Timon of Athens at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Directed by Kent, he performed alongside Ralph Fiennes and Cherry Jones, and won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. Five years later in 2006, he reprised this role in his debut on Broadway. In 2002, McDiarmid won Almeida Theatre's Critic's Circle Award for Best Actor for his role as Teddy in a revival of Brian Friel's Faith Healer. While connected with the Almeida, McDiarmid directed plays such as Venice Preserv'd (1986) and Hippolytus (1991). Their tenure was marked by a string of highly successful performances involving actors such as Kevin Spacey and Ralph Fiennes. The two men resigned in 2001 with the venue in good shape. įrom 1990, McDiarmid and Jonathan Kent served as the artistic directors of the Almeida Theatre in Islington, London, gaining the commitment of prominent actresses such as Glenda Jackson and Claire Bloom for their productions. He played Ivanov in Tom Stoppard's play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the Mermaid Theatre in 1978. He has starred in several Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet (1972), The Tempest (1974, 2000), Much Ado About Nothing (1976), Trevor Nunn's 1976 Macbeth (television 1978), The Merchant of Venice (1984), and King Lear (2005).
McDiarmid has worked as an actor and director in British theatre. McDiarmid claimed he became its recipient "by doing all the boring jobs you have to do when you are young, to eke out an existence." Career Theatre In 1968, McDiarmid received a gold medal for his work, the first of many recognitions given to him for his work in the theatre. Soon after, he decided to pursue a career in the theatre instead, and took acting training courses at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. However, fearing his father's disapproval, McDiarmid attended Queen's College, Dundee (now the University of Dundee, but then a constituent part of the University of St Andrews), where he received a Master of Arts in psychology. I said to myself, 'I don't know what this is, but I want it.'" In 2004, he stated, "It sort of fascinated me, and it also scared me. He became a theatre aficionado when he was five years old, when his father took him to see an act named Tommy Morgan at a theatre in Dundee. McDiarmid was born in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland.