Andy Serkis was devastated when he learned about plans for Snoke's death in The Last Jedi. Serkis is best known as the actor behind pioneering motion-capture performances in franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes, though he also directed the upcoming Venom 2. Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the second installment of the sequel trilogy and released in 2017.
After J. J. Abrams' 2015 film The Force Awakens kicked off the new trilogy in a way that was generally well-received, many elements of Johnson's follow-up became extremely controversial, and the film continues to divide Star Wars fandom today. One notable example is the death of Supreme Leader Snoke (Serkis), who commanded the First Order and was set up in The Force Awakens as a major, mysterious villain. While fans spent two years speculating who Snoke really was, he is killed by Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi, rendering him and his backstory largely inconsequential. The Rise of Skywalker would ultimately explain more about his character, in part due to perceived pressure from audiences, but his role remained severely diminished.
In an interview with io9, Serkis shares that he, too, was pretty shaken up by his character's sudden demise. He describes loving the part and being excited about his potential role in the franchise, only to learn after getting the script for The Last Jedi that he just ends up dead. He did understand how it served the larger story, though:
I was devastated when I read that script because it was all going so well. I was like, ‘Man, this is a boss character. I’m going to love playing... what!? You’re kidding me, what?’ I was like ‘Okay, is a good idea? I supposed it is. I was slightly mortified, pardon the pun. [...] It was all in the right, I think. I loved playing that character and I love the face-off scene between Kylo Ren and Rey, and so it was great.
Elsewhere in the interview, Serkis reveals he had no idea what Snoke's true past was when he took the job. "The journey towards discovering that he was a Palpatine clone was something that happened during the process," he says, "because everything was so secret since Force Awakens." The revelation that Snoke was a puppet for Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker was also met with a mixed response from audiences.
Though his disappointment at his own character being killed off is certainly understandable, Serkis ultimately places himself in the pro camp, acknowledging the decision made sense as part of Kylo's The Last Jedi character arc. His comments also evidence the secrecy that is part of making blockbusters of this magnitude - though some readers might be skeptical that Snoke's identity was indeed planned out from the beginning. However fans feel about the decision to kill off the Supreme Leader, though, everyone is likely to agree that franchises are usually better off with Serkis than without him.
Source: io9