15 Crazy Facts You Have To Accept To Enjoy Star Wars Movies

If you were to ask someone on the street who the most iconic Star Wars villain was, they'd probably say Darth Vader. That being said, the Emperor is pretty darn iconic as well and it's all thanks to one man: Ian McDiarmid.

As previously mentioned, McDiarmid originally appeared in Return of the Jedi, while he was retroactively added into Empire Strikes Back. The long mentioned but never clearly seen villain was instantly striking, from his weak frame to this grotesquely wrinkled appearance. In fact, the make-up was so convincing that you'd be hardly convinced that Ian McDiarmid was only in his late 30s at the time of release and filming.

However, what makes this really shocking is that sixteen years later McDiarmid would go on to portray Chancellor Palpatine's younger self in his plot to destroy the Jedi Order. Once you realise that it's the same actor playing the same character old and young, it's hard to look at him the same way. There's something crazy and mind-boggling about a young man playing an old man, and then the older man playing the younger man.

It's things like this that help Ian McDiarmid bring such charm and novelty to a mass murderer.