Natalie Portman Talks Possible STAR WARS Return And Bizarre King Charles Interaction At EPISODE I Premiere

Natalie Portman Talks Possible STAR WARS Return And Bizarre King Charles Interaction At EPISODE I Premiere

Padmé Amidala actress Natalie Portman has revealed whether she's been contacted about returning to Star Wars and reflects on a strange interaction she had with King Charles at The Phantom Menace premiere.

By JoshWilding - Dec 06, 2023 07:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars
Source: Variety

Natalie Portman first played Queen Padmé Amidala in 1999's Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and later reprised the role in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith

Her story ended in the latter when she was killed by her husband, Anakin Skywalker. Before passing away, the former Queen of Naboo gave birth to Luke and Leia, and Marvel's Darth Vader comics have since further explored the impact her demise had on the Jedi-turned-Sith Lord. 

With Hayden Christensen returning as Anakin in Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka, there's been speculation about Portman also somehow showing up as Padmé again. Now, the actress has confirmed she'd be open to reprising the role if the phone rings. 

Telling Andy Cohen (via Variety) that "no one has asked," Portman said she's "open to it" and called her time working on the Star Wars prequels "amazing."

"It was the first time I worked digitally. I don’t think anyone was shooting that way then," she adds. "It was my first time working with a green screen. It was a whole new set of skills to pick up and a whole new world to enter."

In the same interview, Portman recalled what proved to be a bizarre meeting with King Charles at The Phantom Menace's London premiere. "I remember Prince Charles, he was then Prince Charles, asked me if I was in the originals. I was like, 'No, I’m 18!' But he was very friendly."

Earlier this year, Portman also shared a similarly peculiar interaction with filmmaker Taika Waititi on the set of Thor: Love and Thunder in which he suggested she could star in his upcoming Star Wars movie.

"He says he did [forget] because he like asked me if I wanted to be in a 'Star Wars' movie and I was like, 'I was,'" she remembered. "I thought he was joking. He’s such a joker that I thought it was a joke. And then afterward he said in some interview that he was like cringing afterward."

As noted, Portman played Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. After being introduced in The Phantom Menace as the Queen of Naboo, in Attack of the Clones, Padmé became a Senator and embarked on a romantic relationship with Anakin Skywalker.

Her story concluded tragically in Revenge of the Sith as Padmé, now pregnant with twins, is forced to face the fall of the Galactic Republic and the transformation of Anakin into the evil Darth Vader.

Would you like to see Portman return to her iconic Star Wars role?

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