ON the eve of a special screening of the latest movie in the Star Wars saga in his home town, Spencer Wilding has finally been confirmed to be the man behind the mask of iconic cinematic villain Darth Vader.

“I haven’t been able to talk about it before now,” said the Rhyl actor, who had long been rumoured to be playing the character in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

“You can not talk about it when you are a professional actor due to confidentiality agreements.

“The rumour got out over a year ago. I don’t know who was responsible and I would love to put the Darth Vader choke hold on them.

“It has been difficult to keep as a secret; it is a good secret to keep and of course it’s every actor’s dream, including mine, to get this part.”

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones and Forest Whitaker, opened to rave reviews from fans and critics last week.

It takes place before the original Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and looks at the building of the Death Star and attempts to steal its plans. And as well as introducing new heroes, it signals the return of many beloved characters from the original 1977 movie.

“I had an audition and although the characters were given different names, I had an inkling, more than that a feeling, it was the big fella,” says St Asaph-born Wilding.

“For the producers, casting people and everyone involved to choose me to play that character, I am overwhelmed. They obviously saw something in me.”

Why wouldn’t they chose the 44-year-old as Darth Vadar, having enjoyed appearances in some of the biggest science fiction and fantasy movie and television franchises of the last decade, including Guardians of the Galaxy, Victor Frankenstien, Game of Thrones, Batman Begins, Harry Potter, The Wolfman, and Dr Who?

The former kickboxer admitted to being a “massive fan” of the Star Wars movies, revealing details of his failed introduction to the Star Wars universe, during a cinema trip to The Scala, Prestayn.

“My dad took me to watch the original Star Wars. I was about five years old at the time,” he recalls.

“I remember watching the film and asking myself ‘where are the spaceships?’.”

His dad, instead of taking his son to see the sci-fi epic, had accompanied him to a Pink Panther sequel, starring Peter Sellers!

He would eventually get to see his heroes on the big screen and would be a fan of the franchise for life.

Fast forward nearly 40 years and here he was taking on the role of one of cinemas biggest and most recognisable villains.

“When I had the costume on I can’t explain it. It was surreal, he says. “Out of all of the characters I played, he is the baddest of them all”.

Wilding takes over the role of Darth Vader from David Prowes, whom the kickboxer ran into during a sci-fi event.

“David’s the absolute number one,” he said. “He brought the character to life for others like myself to carry on.”

Despite being unable to attend last week’s UK premiere, the Rhyl actor revealed he had been treated to an earlier cast and crew screening.

“The film is awesome that’s all I can say,” he said.

“It isn’t just about Darth Vader. All the characters, crew, actors and director Gareth Edwards have created a masterpiece.

“Go and see it if you haven’t already. It’s out of this world.”

Rhyl’s Vue Cinema is hosting special red carpet screenings on Thursday December 22 to celebrate the local star’s role, with lots of fun taking place from 6pm to 7.30pm ahead of screenings.

“I wanted to do something for the town, something that everyone could get involved with,” Wilding said.

Cosplayers, stormtroopers, a band, stars from Hollyoaks, plus the film world – including acclaimed stunt actors and fellow Star Wars actor Jimmy Vee – will descend on the West Parade venue.

Wilding said: “All I can say is get dressed up and head down to see some stormtropers and other Star Wars characters.”

After another busy year, he is looking forward to spending Christmas at home in Rhyl with Joleen and their children, George, Bobby-Joe and Tyler, and tucking into turkey and all the trimmings.

Asked if he would have a quiet new year, he laughed, revealing he had something coming up that was “very exciting”, but was unable to reveal more.

For more information, visit www.spencerwilding.com; //twitter.com/BigSpenWilding @BigSpenWilding and www.facebook.com/OfficialSpencerWildingFanPage/

For tickets to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, visit www.myvue.com/cinema/rhyl/film/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story or telephone 0871 2240240.