Grand Moff Tarkin

Grand Moff Tarkin
Star Wars character
Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars.
First appearance	Star Wars (1977)
Created by	George Lucas
Portrayed by	Peter Cushing (Episode IV) Wayne Pygram (Episode III) Guy Henry (Rogue One)
Voiced by	Stephen Stanton (Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels) Keene Curtis (Star Wars radio drama) Nick Jameson (Star Wars: X-Wing) Tony Pope (read-along storybook CDs) Paul Darrow (Star Wars: Empire at War) Guy Henry (Rogue One)
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Death Star Commander, Grand Moff (Galactic Empire) Captain, Admiral (Galactic Republic)
Affiliation	Galactic Empire Galactic Republic (formerly)
Homeworld	Eriadu

Wilhuff Tarkin, also known as Grand Moff Tarkin or Governor Tarkin, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, first portrayed by Peter Cushing in the 1977 film Star Wars. He is the commander of the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's moon-sized super weapon. The character has been called "one of the most formidable villains in Star Wars history."

Tarkin's character was originally conceived as a holy man from the planet Aquila, but was changed later in the creative process into an antagonist. As the Emperor would not appear until later in the original trilogy, Lucas used Tarkin's final version as the "main villain" of the first film, a personification of the Empire.

During the production of Star Wars, Peter Cushing found Tarkin's boots, furnished by the wardrobe department, to be very uncomfortable. Director George Lucas agreed to limit shots where Cushing's feet would be visible, allowing him to wear slippers. Cushing admitted many years later to not knowing what a "Grand Moff" actually was, joking that it sounded like "something which infests a clothes closet" and decided to play him as a "deeply cross and unpleasant gentleman".

In the 2005 prequel film Revenge of the Sith, Wayne Pygram was able to achieve the likeness of a young version of Tarkin through the use of prosthetic makeup. For his performance as Tarkin in the animated series The Clone Wars, voice actor Stephen Stanton researched Cushing's performances and then tried to imitate what Cushing might have sounded like in his mid-thirties and soften his voice to portray a level of humanity.

In the 2016 anthology film Rogue One, archive footage and a digital scan of Peter Cushing's life mask made for Top Secret! were used to create a 3D CGI mask which was augmented and mapped to actor Guy Henry's face. Henry studied Cushing's mannerisms many years previously for the lead role in British TV show Young Sherlock, but insisted on a screen test as he wasn't comfortable that his vocal imitation was accurate, stating he sounded more "Peter O'Toole than Peter Cushing". The ILM team searched through hours of footage to find suitable material of Cushing to build from, footage from A New Hope was lit very differently to the lighting used in Rogue One and had to be digitally changed. The more they manipulated the lighting to match the other actors in the scenes the less like Cushing the character model looked, which meant creating a balancing act between "a digital figure" and "one who looked precisely like Cushing". The owners of Cushing's estate were heavily involved with the creation and had input right down to "small, subtle adjustments". The result, which has been called "one of the most complex and costly CGI re-creations ever", received a mixed response, with questions being raised about the morality of using a dead actor's likeness.