From Newsgroup: alt.fan.starwars

In an odd twist of fate, Ian McDiarmid played an elderly, disfigured
Emperor Palpatine in "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the
Jedi" (1983), and then went on to play a younger version of that
character, some 20 years later, in the "Star Wars" prequels.


According to McDiarmid, George Lucas originally cast him simply as the
physical performance of the Emperor (similar to David Prowse as Darth
Vader). This became evident to him when a producer told him that if he
was able to get his voice close enough to Clive Revill's (who
portrayed the Emperor's voice in "Star Wars: Episode V - The
Empire Strikes Back" (1980)) Lucas would let him use his
on-camera vocals in the final cut of the film.

However, McDiarmid felt he could conduct a stronger, more wicked and
demonic voice for the Emperor as opposed to Revill's more aristocratic
Emperor. Lucas, and even Steven Spielberg, were so impressed with his
take that it ended up becoming a signature trait of the character.

McDiarmid on digitally replacing Clive Revill in the DVD release of
"Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" (1980):

"George (Lucas) felt that it was just and proper. When he made
'Empire,' we hadn't met, and he didn't have a particular idea of who
would play the Emperor or how the character would develop. And he had
no notion that he would do the backstory - Episodes I, II, and III. So
whoever played the Emperor in a mask and added to Revill's voice
wouldn't seem authentic to the people who are going to watch the
entire saga in the right order. It wouldn't make any sense. Since I
was the Emperor , it felt appropriate
that I should be inserted into 'Empire', and that's what George
did."

The Emperor's chair in the film was mechanized so that it could rotate
when the scene called for it. However, the mechanism never worked
properly, so McDiarmid had to make it move by shuffling his feet. A
piece of tape on the floor told him when to stop so it would not be
visible to the camera.

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