Guy Henry discusses playing Rogue One’s controversial CG character

Opinions on how successful the CGI recreation of Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) was in ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY range from "amazing" to "terrible," but the technology used to bring Tarkin back still represented quite a large leap forward in creating digital human-beings. Hidden beneath all that digital makeup and giving life to Tarkin was Guy Henry (HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS), and Henry recently spoke with THR about how tough it was keeping his role a secret and the genuine terror he felt at the possibility that he would not only let the movie down, but the late Peter Cushing as well.

Guy Henry on what it was like keeping his role a secret for well over a year:

The very, very closest of my family and friends — I graciously allowed them into the secret, because I think I would have gone mad otherwise. My name began to be associated with it occasionally. People would ask. At work, [the team behind the BBC One series] Holby City had to know I was doing something in it, but even my agent, when I was asked to meet Gareth Edwards, she didn't really know why. They didn't tell her. It was quite a responsibility really, and I'm glad it was kept secret right up until the very last moment.

On whether he had doubts about his ability to play Tarkin:

Normally as an actor, you are you pretending to be another person. Here, I was me pretending to be Peter Cushing pretending to be Tarkin. I said at one point, "I won't be offended if you feel the voice isn't good enough or isn't right or is too young." There is a famous impersonator here called Rory Bremner. I said, "I won't be offended if you want to get him. I just want it to be good. Don't worry if you have to ditch my voice." They stuck with me gamely. 

On when he felt confident that ILM was going to be able to pull it off:

They snuck me in to show me [early]. I thought, "We might be all right here." It was only after the London premiere I knew for sure it worked. I'd had several glasses of white wine. I wasn't able to eat, I was so frightened. "If I haven't done good enough here, it's going to be so sad. That would be very bad." I don't mean bad career-wise. I had not done any interviews. "Don't bother about my name." I'd be referred to as a stand-in and a voice double who was a disaster, and I could go on. But I didn't want to let Peter Cushing down.

Henry was pleased to hear that several members of the Cushing Estate had praised both his and ILM's work on ROGUE ONE, but he doesn't believe that this sort of approach will become commonplace in future movies. "The reason for doing it was honorable," said Henry. "When people were talking about the ethics of bringing someone back who was long dead, I could see that if it was done for the wrong reason or something a bit seedy or just for the sake of it, that would have been wrong." There were several options in place in case the technology wasn't going to be up to the task, but having Grand Moff Tarkin in ROGUE ONE was something which Gareth Edwards and company felt very strongly about.

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY is currently playing in theaters.