Ian McDiarmid Interview - 1998 Star Wars Insider Issue 37 Scott Chernoff You were a drama school classmate of Denis Lawson.  Some people might be surprised to know that the Emperor and Wedge used to hang out together. Yes indeed!  We go back quite a long way.  It was the Royal Scottish Academy of Dramatic Arts in Glasgow, and Denis and I were in the sameyear, though I think to be fair to...Wedge...he's a bit younger than me, but not that much.  We were and still are very good friends.  We used to make each other laugh alot. Were you disappointed you didn't have any scenes together in Return of the Jedi? Yes, we were disappointed, but not surprised.  There were a lot of people I knew in that film.  One of the other pilots was a Scottish actor called Hilton McRae, and there were a few others, I can't remember who they all were.  But of course the film was made over here, and George liking British actors as much as he likes British technicians, that was inevitable. You didn't do any Jedi scenes with Denis Lawson, but now you've worked with his nephew, Ewan McGregor, who plays athe young Obi Wan Kenobi in Episode 1. That's an even bigger coincidence! Had you met Ewan when he was growing up? I met Ewan when he came to along to see his uncle and me in a play that we did together, Volpone, by Ben Jonson.  It wasn't that long ago.  He was still in drama school.  And like everyone else, I've been delighted to watch his meteoric rise.