Andy Serkis Spills (a Bit) on Snoke

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Andy Serkis gave a little bit of background into Supreme Leader Snoke, or at least insofar as Serkis chose to play the character. We all know at this point that we will actually see Snoke on screen "in the flesh", as opposed to his only appearance in The Force Awakens being via hologram. It also appeared that Snoke was possibly playing Hux and Ren against each other a bit. According to EW:

Serkis describes a cruel master, a 9-foot-tall alien humanoid who disparages and dominates his two lieutenants: Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson.) He’s a predator who identifies weakness and exploits it, drawing the young and promising to his side with promises of power, then using and discarding his protégés when they are no longer of use.

Serkis mentions a bit about Snoke's motivation. His disfigurement is obvious on screen, but Serkis describes a person that uses whatever happened to him in the past as a way to focus a kind of revenge on the Resistance.

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 says. “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.

This doesn't really sound that different from Anakin/Vader. Anakin focused his post-injury hatred on the Jedi Order, looking to seek revenge on the institution that he believed had betrayed him.

Serkis goes on to say that the First Order is quite powerful, moreso than the rest of the galaxy may realize, or be willing to admit.

Despite the fact that the Starkiller Base has been destroyed and the Resistance has been putting up a fight, we will discover that the First Order has limitless resources in this one.

On Snoke, Serkis explains that his injuries will restrict Snoke's physicality in the film. Considered by many to be the foremost talent and expert in the field of motion-capture acting, Serkis said he taped up his own face to better depict the scarring to Snoke's jaw and skull. The injuries themselves were inspired by soldiers from World War I, who suffered grotesque deformities while contemporary medicine was able to save their lives but not restore their physical appearance.

Serkis also says a bit about Snoke's appearance in a golden robe, as compared to Palpatine's simple black garb:

You know, he’s not afraid of showing his fineries. There is a luxury that’s native to him.

Read the complete interview at Entertainment Weekly.

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