Natalie Portman Once Felt She Fell on Her Face Doing ‘Star Wars’
The Star Wars franchise helped catapult Oscar-winner Natalie Portman’s career to new heights. And although she was always pleased to be a part of Star Wars mythology, experiencing the prequel trilogy was also a learning experience.
Natalie Portman didn’t know what she was getting into with the ‘Star Wars’ franchise
Natalie Portman was already an actor on the rise during the 90s. She made her feature film debut in the 1994 movie Leon: the Professional. Then she continued rounding out her filmography at an early age with roles in films like Heat and Beautiful Girls.
She would cap off her career in the 90s with the role of Queen Amidala in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The character in question would lead to her playing the love interest for Star Wars‘ Anakin Skywalker.
When Portman first got the part, she had no idea that the prequel trilogy, or her role, would have the impact they did. This was partially due to her limited knowledge and exposure of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise.
“I definitely didn’t actively pursue this role at all, but I just met with the casting director like on any other film and just talked to her, and then I met George [Lucas] and talked to him, and I got the part. I hadn’t seen the films until it was offered to me, so I really wasn’t aware of what Star Wars was at all,” she once said at a press conference according to ScreenSlam.
Natalie Portman felt like she fell on her face doing ‘Star Wars’
Initially, fans and critics weren’t very receptive to certain aspects of the prequel trilogy. Portman was well aware of the harsh criticism leveled at Star Wars at the time. Admittedly, some of it got under her skin.
“It was hard,” she recalled in an interview with Empire. “It was a bummer because it felt like people were so excited about new ones and then to have people feel disappointed. Also to be at an age that I didn’t really understand that’s kind of the nature of the beast. When something has that much anticipation it can almost only disappoint.”
But over time, Portman grew to appreciate the films even more because of the criticism they faced. The actor believed she grew as both an actor and a person after the experience.
“Those films that other people might target, and I’m fully aware of it, I’m just as proud of them,” she told The Telegraph in a 2010 interview. “I think you have to fall on your face. I didn’t go to drama school, where you get to mess up in private. Every mistake I’ve made, of trying something that didn’t work, was on a public screen. And I think that’s fine. Failing makes you unafraid to fail. You know it’s not a big deal.”
Natalie Portman has noticed a shift with how fans react to the ‘Star Wars’ prequel trilogy
Opinions regarding the Star Wars prequel trilogy might have changed significantly since the years and decades they’ve been released. Portman feels they’ve gone from critically panned to being praised by many in the community. It reminded the actor of her experience with fans of her debut movie The Professional.
“I mean, I had it with The Professional too,” she told Variety. “It was slaughtered critically, and now, despite having been in Marvel and Star Wars movies, it’s the main thing people come up to me about. That and Star Wars are two examples of things that when they came out, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is a disaster.’ And then 20 years later — actually, 30 years later for The Professional — it’s beloved.”
