Andy Serkis Discusses The Identity Of His Character In Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December 2015, there has been much speculation as to the true identity of the new Big Bad, Supreme Leader Snoke. Played by motion-capture expert Andy Serkis, the sinister and terrifying figurehead of the First Order manipulates and instructs Kylo Ren and General Hux in the nefarious undertakings of The Dark Side. However, focusing on the detail, some fans have become convinced that Snoke is, in fact, a link between the new trilogy and the Star Wars prequels.

The suggestion spawned from audience members who noted a possible similarity between the incidental music heard in a scene in Revenge Of The Sith, and the incidental music that accompanies the appearance of Snoke onscreen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The scene in Revenge Of The Sith features the young Anakin Skywalker in conversation with Senator Palpatine, discussing an unseen character named Darth Plagueis, who is identified as being the mentor of Palpatine. Plagueis is described as being one of the most powerful beings in existence, having achieved immortality and the ability to both destroy and restore life.

While that sounds exciting, recent comments by Andy Serkis neither confirmed nor denied the link to the character of Plagueis which, in itself, suggests that Supreme Leader Snoke is actually a brand new character.

“Supreme Leader Snoke is quite an enigmatic character, and strangely vulnerable at the same time as being quite powerful. Obviously he has a huge agenda. He has suffered a lot of damage. As I said, there is a strange vulnerability to him, which belies his true agenda, I suppose.”

While the prospect of Star Wars: The Force Awakens presenting Snoke as an entirely new, unknown character is exciting, it is the way in which Andy Serkis characterizes him as being “strangely vulnerable” that is truly interesting here.

As is, by now, widely known, Supreme Leader Snoke appears in holographic form, and intimidating though that is, it raises a number of questions. Firstly, where is he actually located? Secondly, what does he actually look like? He is unlikely to actually be so big as to tower over Kylo Ren and General Hux the way his hologram does, so what is the connection between his true physicality and his need of holographic projection? These are questions that we can expect to remain unanswered until Episode VIII, at least.