Star Wars: The Last Jedi may or may not answer the question of where Supreme Leader Snoke comes from, but it’s likely to explain what makes him tick and why he’s so incredibly pissed off. Andy Serkis, who does the motion-capture performance behind Snoke, is already giving a few hints.
Image: Disney
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Serkis explained a bit about what’s happened to the villain prior to the new trilogy:
The thing about Snoke is that he is extremely strong with the Force, the dark side of the Force. He’s terribly powerful, of course. But he is also a very vulnerable and wounded character. He has suffered and he has suffered injury. The way that his malevolence comes out is in reaction to that. His hatred of the Resistance is fuelled by what’s happened to him personally.
One of the things that’s happening to him personally in The Last Jedi is that he’s feeling disappointment over the development of his pupil, Kylo Ren.
“His training of Kylo Ren is not yielding what he wants,” Serkis said. “Therefore his anger towards Kylo Ren is intensified because he can’t bear weakness in others. Part of the manipulation is goading him with Hux and playing them off against each other.”
More of Snoke’s personality will also be revealed due to the fact that, for the first time, audiences will see him in the flesh. They will see where he chooses to spend his time. Serkis thinks that says a lot about the character too.
“He’s slightly oligarch,” Serkis said. “You know, he’s not afraid of showing his fineries. There is a luxury that’s native to him… The way that his court is presented, he’s very totalitarian in that way and flamboyant. He enjoys that theatricality, I think.”
We’ll see more of the theatrical, tyrannical, broken Supreme Leader on December 14 when The Last Jedi hits theatres. And you can read more from Serkis, as well as writer-director Rian Johnson, at the below link.