Star Wars Insider – July 2019

STAR WARS INSIDER / 79

INTERVIEW: JULIAN GLOVER

money for this extraordinary scheme he’s
got, and that’s why he gets Indiana Jones
in on it.
I have played lots of villains. The
fi rst was in an amazingly exciting, silly,
wonderful Tony Richardson fi lm called
Tom Jones (1963), which starred the
late Albert Finney. My character was a
horrible, selfi sh, drunken soldier. I also
played villains in so many of those 1960s
TV shows like The Avengers, The Saint,
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), and The
Champions. It got to the point that I’d
say to the producers, “Don’t cast me
because everybody will know that I did
it.” For myself—and many young actors
of that time—those series were our main
source of income.

You’ve been traveling the world on the
convention circuit, and were at this
year’s Star Wars Celebration Chicago.
You must enjoy the experience?
I do. When I fi rst started, I was pretty
snooty about them, but I very soon

learnedthattheseeventsarenottobe

sneezedat.Thepeoplewhoattenddress

up,andthat’srathernice,it’sa really

serioushobby—Iusedtocollecttrain

numbers.Howexcitingis that?!Butif

you’vegota realhobbylikedressingup

orcollectingthingsfromthesefilms,

it’smuchmoreinteresting.Goingto

conventions,meetingtheactors,getting

signatures,andhearingthemtalk,I

thinkit’sa terrificallygoodthing.

You’veworkeda lotinthetheatre.Is

thatwhereyoufeelmostcomfortable?

WhenI wasabouttenyearsintomy

career,I realizedit wasn’tgoingtheway

I wantedit to.I wasmakinganalright

livingat it,butI wasn’tdoingwhatI

originallywentintothebusinesstodo,

whichis whatI call‘properwork’:things

likeShakespeare,andallthat.NowI’ve

done 12 seriesofShakespearewiththe

RoyalShakespeareCompany,andfour

withtheNationalTheatre,andtoured

withclassicplays.That’swhatI came

intothebusinesstodo—thankgoodness

I realized,andturnedmycareeraround.

I’mthrilledtobegoingintoa Tennessee

Williamsplayat theNoelCoward

TheatreinLondon’sWestEndinthe

summer,calledNightof theIguana.

I’mgratefultostillbeworkingnow,

at theageof 83 yearsold.I’vekeptmy

familygoing,I havea modesthousein

LondonthatI’vebeeninfornearly 50

years,andI’vebeenmarriedforexactly

50 yearsnow.We’vekeptit going,and

hereI am,sittinginquitea comfortable

chairtalkingtoa chapwhowantstotalk

tomeaboutallthethingsthatI’vedone.

Thatcan’tbebad,canit?

01 Julian Glover

as General

Veers with

Admiral Ozzel

(Michael

Sheard).

02 Veers leading

the assault

on the Hoth

rebel base

from his

AT-AT.

03 Glover was

pleased to

share a scene

with the

iconic Darth

Vader (Dave

Prowse).

“Veers in The Empire

Strikes Back certainly isn’t

a villain. He’s a professional

soldier who fights bloody

well for the people who

pay him to do it.”

03