Returning to Star Wars one day is almost a rite of passage for the saga’s cast. The heroes of the original trilogy, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford did it. Daisy Ridley is about to follow in his footsteps. And so did Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, the two stars of the prequel. After all, all that’s missing is Natalie Portman!
That’s good, the Oscar-winning actress from Black Swan is up for it… even if Star Wars almost destroyed her career! Indeed, in 2001, when she distinguished herself on stage on Broadway for an adaptation Seagull Chekhov’s No One Wants an Actress, directed by Mike Nichols. It was thanks to the late director that her career was finally saved, as she revealed in a 2014 interview with New York magazine.
“Star Wars (The Phantom Menace) came out around the time of The Seagull, and everyone thought I was a terrible actress. I was in the highest-grossing film of the decade and no director wanted to work with me. Mike (co-director) Anthony wrote to Minghella and said, ‘Put it in Cold Mountain, I’ll vouch for it.’ And then Anthony sent me to (another director) Tom Tykwer, who sent me to the Wachowskis (for V for Vendetta).”
Lucasfilm
Natalie Portman She then received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Closer in 2004, directed by Mike Nichols Fittingly, then six years later she won the Best Actress Award for her performance black swan.
Ready to return to the starry universe
Last month when she was a guest on the show Watch what happens live To promote his new film May December, Natalie Portman informed “No one asked him“To return to Star Wars but she was willing to answer the call favorably if Lucasfilm had the opportunity to offer her.
“I’m open to that.”
, the actress said, recalling that her experience in the prequel trilogy was “incredible”. “It was the first time I worked digitally. I don’t think anyone filmed like that at the time. It was the first time I worked with green screen. It was a whole new set of skills to learn and a whole new world to enter and also, obviously, the whole Star Wars mythology that the whole country lives on. It was amazing to be a part of it.“Natalie Portman She made her first appearance as Padme Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace In 1999. The character met a tragic end in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith, but not before giving birth to the famous Luke and Leia. Even though Padme’s death is permanent, Lucasfilm has proven over time that nothing is impossible in the saga, however difficult it may seem.
Taika Waititi offers Natalie Portman a Star Wars role
When Thor: Love and Thunder releases in 2022, the actress revealed that director Taika Waititi asked her to appear in his next Star Wars project… without remembering that she starred in the prequel!
“He says he forgot because he asked me if I wanted to be in a Star Wars movie and I said, ‘I was.’
”, the actress revealed to GQ. “I thought he was joking. He is such a joker that I thought it was a joke. And then he said in an interview that he gritted his teeth afterward.“Natalie Portman can be found in May December, currently showing in a cinema near you.
Watch his interview with Watch What Happens Live below: