The following is an excerpt from the Star Wars Insider Magazine Special Edition, on sale now!
Rarely seen Revenge of the Sith interviews
Star Wars Insider: What kind of pressure did you feel when you embarked on Revenge of the Sith, given the level of expectation?
George Lucas: Ultimately I had to push that all out of my life and just say, "I'm going to continue to make the movies that I started out to make." Fortunately, the whole thing was written and established, before Star Wars was successful.
You have to remember, Star Wars was intended to be one movie: Episode IV, a Saturday matinee serial. You never saw what came before and you never saw what came after. It was designed to be the tragedy of Darth Vader, which starts with Darth Vader coming through the door and throwing everybody around. Halfway through the story you realize he is actually a man and that the hero is his son. In the end the villain turns into the hero because he is inspired by his son.
Star Wars Insider: What inspired the character of Palpatine?
Ian McDiarmid: I just play a straight forward politician -- now there's a contradiction in terms! He's charming, smiling, out for the good of the universe, and its community. But underneath there lurks a monster, so it was very easy to build the character; I just looked in the newspapers!
Star Wars Insider: How did the cast and crew react to you when you put on the Darth Vader suit?
Hayden Christensen: That was what was brilliant: getting to put it all on and experiencing the sensation of being Vader! Watching everyone take it in for the first time was what was really cool. People that I had befriended and spent a lot of time with, who knew I was in the costume, would see me and, though there was excitement and a certain awe, were also fearful and respectful of me!
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