Not that Revenge of the Sith could ever be accused of shying away from the truth of the situation or the horror that was Order 66, the fall of the Republic of the immolation of Anakin Skywalker, but speaking last weekend at Salt Lake City’s FanX convention, Sheev Palpatine himself Ian McDiarmid made it very clear that many of the tougher moments filmed didn’t make it into the film.
“I think it was a little more gruesome than you ended up seeing, you know. A lot of young potential Jedi ended up on the cutting room floor.”
It was bad enough of course – who can forget the young padawan, the only person to refer to Anakin as Master Skywalker before being cut down – and little was left to the imagination, but despite the tough love of the sixth and then final film, McDiarmid is clear which of his five films (don’t forget his appearance as the Emperor on the 2004 Trilogy DVD version of The Empire Special Edition) is his favourite.
“(Revenge of the Sith) was the big transformation movie for the character, and I had a lot to.”
“I got to play that great scene — and one of the best scenes I think George has written. I know he’s often teased about his writing, but he surpassed himself in the scene at the opera.”
