Though the Skywalkers tend to get most of the love and attention from “Star Wars” fans, there was another famous lineage throughout the intergalactic saga that remains just as vital to the narrative… even if it wasn’t all that clear in the beginning. During a recent interview with Variety in celebration of the 20th anniversary re-release of “Revenge of the Sith,” Emperor Palpatine actor Ian McDiarmid reflected on his experience playing the big baddie over the course of nearly 40 years, explaining how the character’s importance wasn’t strategized beforehand.

“It wasn’t mapped out at all, really,” he said. “When I first got the part, I had no idea what the world was that I’d be in charge of as the Emperor. So it started off as a big mystery. I had no idea that Palpatine would figure [into the story so heavily].”

Even when George Lucas brought McDiarmid back for “The Phantom Menace...