Andy Serkis Hints About Snoke's Backstory In The Last Jedi

Although there are plenty of mysterious characters in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, one literally looms larger than the rest. 

We first met the enigmatic Supreme Leader Snoke as a hologram in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but we'll see him in the twisted flesh in the upcoming sequel. 

Andy Serkis, arguably the best motion-capture performer in the world, brings the ruler of the First Order to life in The Last Jedi, and he told Entertainment Weekly about as much as he could without drawing the wrath of Lucasfilm.

He describes the 9-foot-tall alien humanoid as a cruel leader who is deformed because of some horrible incident in the past. "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 fueled by what's happened to him personally."

We still don't know what caused the change to Snoke, but there's a chance we'll find out more in The Last Jedi. However, Serkis said the character's appearance is drawn from real history. "His deformity is very much based on injuries from the first World War, from the trenches," he said.

In The Last Jedi, Snoke dominates his two lieutenants Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), but he isn't afraid to cut his losses when his protégés become less useful. That's probably why he's so interested in Rey (Daisy Ridley).

"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."

But unlike Emperor Palpatine, who dressed like a Sith monk, Snoke is driven by greed along with revenge, and he embraces the lavish lifestyle his power gives him. "He's slightly oligarch," Serkis said. "You know, he's not afraid of showing his fineries. There is a luxury that's native to him."

Could that be another hint about Snoke's backstory? If he's accustomed to luxury, that would imply that he was royalty before he became what he is.

Still, director Rian Johnson said we shouldn't expect to find out all that much about Snoke in The Last Jedi. "Similar to with Rey's parentage, Snoke is here to serve a function in the story. And, you know, a story is not a Wikipedia page," Johnson said. "For example, in the original trilogy, we didn't know anything about the Emperor except exactly what we needed to know, which is what Luke knew about him, that he's the evil guy behind Vader."

Either way, we'll definitely find out at least a little more about Snoke when The Last Jedi arrives in theaters on Dec. 15.