Star Wars: 10 Side Characters Who Totally Stole Their Scenes
3. Admiral Motti - Star Wars (1977)
While Darth Vader's first kill is Captain Antilles in the opening of Star Wars, the scene in which an arrogant Imperial Admiral talks back to Vader is the most instantly iconic moment the character had. And it would not have been as impressive if not for the performance of Richard LeParmentier as Admiral Motti.
The instant the scene begins, Motti establishes his arrogance by proclaiming the Death Star to be "The Ultimate Power in the Universe". Credit to LeParmentier for selling this line with such shameless glee. Once Vader starts force choking him for his arrogance, LeParmentier steals the scene with a truly incredible bit of pantomime. It's easy to take for granted in a post Star Wars world just how difficult it is to act like you're being choked when the person who's choking you is several feet away.
Compare this performance to, say, Admiral Ozzel from The Empire Strikes Back. Without this man's consummate performance, the force choke would still be seen as a fairly silly concept. But this one scene with Admiral Motti is the reason we buy Vader's iconic attack.