So far we've only met the First Order's Supreme Leader Snoke as a furious hologram – but in Star Wars: The Last Jedi he'll emerge in the flesh. And that flesh contains a lot of pent-up rage.

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“You witness his physicality,” actor Serkis said, who plays Snoke using performance capture. “His body is kind of twisted up like a corkscrew, and so he has limited movement. His aggression and his anger is contained and restricted by that physicality.”

The actor told Entertainment Weekly: "This time you get to see him, as in his real presence. In the previous movie we saw him as this huge hologram and tele-presence, and you get to meet him in the flesh this time."

Snoke is a nine-foot-tall alien humanoid who has suffered a devastating injury and used to it drive his crusade against the Republic and its Resistance. Serkis says that some of this back story will be explored in The Last Jedi, and explain why Snoke has become who he is.

"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,” Serkis said.

“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.”

We will also observe the First Order's enigmatic leader as he dominates and controls his two lieutenants: Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). But in The Last Jedi, things are not going smoothly.

“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.”

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in the UK on 15th December 2017

Authors

Eleanor Bley GriffithsDrama Editor, RadioTimes.com
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