Tom Hiddleston expressed interest in playing a villain in the Star Wars saga.
Fans have been imagining Hiddleston as a young Palpatine for a long time. In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he was asked about this fan casting. He was surprised to hear it but said he would be open to the opportunity.
Hiddleston added that he may need to be older for the role but found the idea of joining the Star Wars franchise exciting:
“I don’t know. I’m open to all of it. What an amazing thing to be a part of.”
You can watch the full interview below.
Ian McDiarmid Thinks It’s a Good Idea
Ian McDiarmid played Palpatine in the prequel trilogy. He also shared his thoughts about Hiddleston’s fan casting in 2022. At a Star Wars Celebration panel, he said exploring Palpatine’s journey to the dark side would be interesting:
“I think it’s a very good rumor. I think you could do that with practically any of the characters to whom it has not been done already. We saw [Palpatine] rise when he was 50, didn’t we? What did he go through to get there, and how did Sidious come about? I think all of that is very interesting, and no doubt there are people as we speak somewhere around this city thinking along those lines. It would be great.”
McDiarmid added that he believes modern technology can help younger actors play the role effectively.
There are no official plans from the studio to make a young Palpatine story. The ‘Star Wars’ franchise is exploring new stories with prequel series like ‘The Acolyte.’ The show is available to stream on Disney+.
