Ian McDiarmid can’t help but chuckle when he sees memes comparing New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to his iconic Star Wars villain, Emperor Palpatine.
The comparison has been floating around the Internet for years (mostly side-by-side shots, but also some blended together); Belichick’s gruff personality, along with his sideline wardrobe choices, make him an easy target to poke fun at by those who are not Patriots fans.
McDiarmid walked the red carpet for the premiere of Disney’s Rise of Skywalker on Monday night in Hollywood and talked to The Hollywood Reporter about his time on the film (which is not a spoiler since it is in the trailers) and to laugh at a couple of Belichick-Palpatine memes.
The Scottish actor admits he is not much of an NFL fan, but, that said, he enjoys the creativity of the Star Wars-sports crossovers.
“It’s a pretty good impersonation, but he ought to wear black,” McDiarmid quipped of the memes. “That’s the only criticism I have.”
Beyond the sports silliness, McDiarmid told THR he was thrilled to return to the franchise and was in total shock when he got a call from director J.J. Abrams informing him of the idea for Rise of Skywalker.
McDiarmid has played Palpatine in six of the nine Skywalker series of films (including his dubbed-over appearance for Clive Revill in the 1997 Empire Strikes Back special edition.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens Dec. 20.
