20 Little Known Star Wars Facts
20. Empress Palpatine
The ultimate antagonist appears only briefly in “The Empire Strikes Back” before becoming a major character in “Return of the Jedi.”
In the prequel trilogy, one of George Lucas’ main goals was to show how Palpatine rose to power as Darth Sidious and became the ultimate Sith Lord.
Fans will remember actor Ian McDiarmid’s performance as Palpatine in “Return of the Jedi” as well as all three prequels, but you may not realize that McDiarmid hadn’t been cast yet for the filming of “The Empire Strikes Back.” Instead, the Emperor was played by a woman – more specifically, Elaine Baker, the wife of makeup designer Rick Baker – in the original release of Episode V.
To make the Emperor look as inhuman as possible, the eyes of a chimpanzee were superimposed onto Baker’s face in post-production, and voice actor Clive Revill was brought in to record Palpatine’s lines. The original version of the scene was replaced in 2004 when Lucas had McDiarmid re-shoot the Emperor’s first appearance for a special edition DVD release.
While Baker’s performance has been all but forgotten, you can still find her scene in old VHS releases of “The Empire Strikes Back” as well as on websites like YouTube.
