The spitefully laughing Emperor in Star Wars is one of the most famous villains in film history. However, few fans know who originally brought him to life.
Ian McDiarmid is the face of the Emperor in the Star Wars films. Since Return of the Jedi, which was released in 1983, he has embodied Sheev Palpatine. In other words, for most fans of the saga, it is hard to imagine that someone completely different was once under the black hood of the villain.
However, a glance at the history books reveals that three years before McDiarmid, there were two actresses who played the Emperor on screen. They were Marjorie Eaton and Elaine Baker in The Empire Strikes Back. In the end, however, only one of them appeared in the finished film.
Before Ian McDiarmid: Marjorie Eaton and Elaine Baker were the first to play the Star Wars villain
At this point, it should come as no surprise that a Star Wars villain is brought to life by different people. From actors to body doubles to a voice that changes the character of the entire figure: Darth Vader is the best example of this.
Star Wars creator George Lucas also took his time to find the perfect version for the Emperor, shooting the first test footage with Majorie Eaton in February 1980, who was later replaced by Elaine Baker. At least that’s the version told by J.W. Rinzler in The Making of The Empire Strikes Back.
Rinzler’s making-of books are usually characterized by extensive research that makes even the complex production of a Star Wars film comprehensible down to the smallest detail. However, there are conflicting details regarding the casting of the emperor, which is why the second version is given here.
Although Baker is listed by Rinzler as the actress who can be seen in the theatrical version of the film, a tweet from Lucasfilm executive Pablo Hidalgo in 2016 suggests that the story was the other way around: Baker, the wife of make-up artist Rick Baker, did the test shots and Eaton ended up in the film.
What makes it complicated: In the finished film, alienated chimpanzee eyes were placed over the face of the actress who played the Emperor during the shoot. To find out who it really is, another dive into the depths of the Lucasfilm archive would be necessary to study the original negatives.
Who played the Emperor first? Star Wars experts agree on only one name
So we don’t have a 100% answer to the question of who played the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back. Neither actress is named in the film’s credits. The only detail on which all sources agree is that the Emperor’s voice is that of Clive Revill.
Those who watch the fifth episode of the Star Wars saga today will not notice any of this, however. Since the DVD release of the original trilogy in 2004, the original Emperor has been replaced by a re-filmed scene with Ian McDiarmid, similar to the ghost of Anakin in Return of the Jedi.
