While we, by no means, have all the details regarding the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” movie, one of the biggest mysteries has to do with the character of Supreme Leader Snoke. Despite the fact that we know veteran motion performance actor Andy Serkis is portraying him, all we really know about the guy is that he’s bad. But how bad is he? I he the “big bad” of the franchise, or is the General Grievous of the trilogy? So little has been revealed about Snoke that some fans have gone to the Dark Side and speculated that Snoke is actually Jar Jar Binks (STOP it, fans!). I can’t definitively say no to that theory, but I feel fairly confident in shooting in down based on common sense alone.
Regardless of what I think, the “Star Wars” film will trudge forth, and until we actually get an idea of what the character is, we’ll cling onto whatever nuggets of information about the character we can get. In an interview with Empire, Andy Serkis described the acting process on the first day.
“It was quite an unusual situation. I worked specifically with Domhnall Gleeson and with Adam Driver. My first day was basically standing on a 25-foot podium doing Lord Snoke without the faintest idea what he looked like… or in fact who he was! I was very high up, totally on my own, away from everybody else, but acting with them.”
A podium, eh? This is a bit of a stab in the dark, but we have seen a few shots of the masses of stormtroopers attending some sort of speech. Up until this point, I assumed it was Domhnall Gleeson’s General Hux, but it may very well be Snoke–unless, of course, the podium he stood on was more to make him incredibly tall.
Serkis was also able to share some details regarding the character’s mental state and personality a tad.
“He is severely damaged. Although he’s a powerful leader, he comes across as vulnerable. Very scarred and disfigured…we used sort of a ‘Kongolizer’ method of having sound come out of speakers to give a sense of scale and distance for the character. So it was very challenging and scary, in fact probably one of my most scary film experiences I’ve ever had.”
“Powerful,” “scary,” “vulnerable,” and “damaged” are all huge words that stand out to me in regards to the character. Between this and the obviously-torn Kylo Ren, one has to wonder if the tried-and-true formula of good versus evil is something the franchise will promptly abandon this time around in favor of shades of gray. Sure, Snoke can have terrible ambitions, but perhaps there is some sort of great reason for him to be the way he is.
If Snoke is here to stay, I can imagine we’ll only get a taste of him in this film. They need a big bad to take them through to the very end of this trilogy, at least, and perhaps even further if they desire. Who’s to say that after seeing the movie on December 18th, we won’t still be scratching our heads and wondering what to expect from him.
Considering “Star Wars” is a franchise that will likely be around until the end of time, it’s very possible. Very possible indeed.
What do you think of what Serkis had to say about Snoke? Let us know your thoughts down below!
SOURCE: Empire