Captain Tarkin, who will make his second Clone Wars appearance in "Counterattack," returns a character to the Star Wars saga that was introduced in A New Hope and only briefly glimpsed at the end of Episode III. The young captain -- his "Grand Moff" title has yet to be earned -- reveals himself in The Clone Wars to possess at least a few of the qualities that will forge him into a ruthless agent of the Empire, able to destroy an entire planet in a callous display of power.
Resurrecting the Tarkin character -- originally played by actor Peter Cushing in A New Hope -- is Stephen Stanton, who's no stranger to playing characters from the Star Wars universe: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Captain Antilles, and Darth Maul are just a few of the roles he's played in multiple video game titles, as well as Senator Mas Amedda in The Clone Wars.
We asked Stanton about his role as the young Tarkin, and if he felt he successfully filled Cushing's slippers in The Clone Wars (a little behind-the-scenes humor, there -- see final question):
Classic trilogy roles in The Clone Wars are few and far between -- how did you like landing the role of everyone's favorite Grand-Moff-to-be?
I was thrilled, honored and more than a little nervous to say the least. Both Peter Cushing and Tarkin are icons in their own right. It's one thing to audition for a role, and another to actually get the job and then have to go in and deliver the goods for the people who created that role.
We see the beginnings of a mutual respect between Tarkin and Anakin -- is this the beginning of a 'beautiful friendship'?
Well, it's definitely the beginning of the relationship between Tarkin and Anakin. Only the writers know how it's going to evolve. But personally I like being in the dark about what's going to happen next because it gives me something to work with as an actor. That way when I see the script for the first time, I get to react as Tarkin would in unknown or unfamiliar situations. And it becomes real for me...and hopefully to the audience as well.
What was the most challenging part of reproducing Cushing's vocal characterization of Tarkin?
One of the most difficult parts for me was to speak as Peter Cushing as a younger actor. So I started by researching earlier films that he was in such as the Hammer horror films of the late '50s and '60s. But even in those films, Peter was a middle-aged man. So I took the basic cadence of his voice, and then tried to imagine what it might sound like in his mid-thirties. Then I softened it to give it a sense of humanity to contrast against the later version of Tarkin when he is the Grand Moff and has embraced the dark side. But having done that, the real challenge for me was to be able to sustain this new voice for an entire episode, and at the same time be able to make vocal adjustments to fulfill the vision of the scene as our director, Dave Filoni, sees it.
If there was one Tarkin line from A New Hope you could have resurrected for his stint in The Clone Wars, what would it have been?
Actually, my favorite line is the one no one refers to which takes place in the scene where Vader brings Leia to Tarkin for the final interrogation as the Death Star is approaching her home planet of Alderaan. It's that classic Peter Cushing, matter of fact, understated delivery of the line "You're far too trusting," after which he proceeds to destroy her planet and everyone on it, which left an indelible impression on me as a teenager.
Finally, and most importantly -- did you perform any of your lines in bedroom slippers (as Cushing did because of painfully small boots on the set of A New Hope)?
I have to be honest, I didn't even know of this story until about a year ago. So no, I didn't perform in my slippers -- but I did audition for the role in my pajamas -- in my home studio, of course! Does that count?
