Emperor Palpatine is the only villain who has appeared in as many "Star Wars" movies as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. He's also been played by the same actor since 1983. 


That actor is Ian McDiarmid, and he'd like to keep it that way. 


In an interview with ​BBC Scotland's Timeline, McDiarmid spoke about playing the iconic character. He said for "Return of the Jedi," they wanted somebody much older, as Palpatine is supposed to be 120 years old. 


But, the actor they hired originally couldn't continue on the project, so they cast McDiarmid, loaded him up with makeup and the rest is history.

emperor laugh

As far as the main series is concerned, Emperor Palpatine is dead. There's no chance he'll come back for a future episode. McDiarmid did mention the possibility of appearing in an anthology movie, though.


"But there is what they call the anthology series and actually the most recent one, 'Rogue One,' was about the time when I was in charge. I was referred to a few times, Darth Vader popped up, but you did not see me. Maybe they are keeping me as a surprise for later but I have no idea," McDiarmid said.


If that happens, he wants to be the one to bring Palpatine back to the big screen. "Of course, I don't want anyone else to play him," he said.

Palp lightning

Here's hoping "Revenge of the Sith" isn't the last we'll see of McDiarmid's Emperor Sheev Palpatine.