How Old Was “Natalie Portman” in the Phantom Menace?

Before The Rise of Skywalker caused such havoc, I would have even dared to state that the Prequel Trilogy was the most polarising among fans. The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is likely one of the most divisive parts of the entire narrative universe.

On the one hand, it supports the idea that a strong story may somehow make up for acting and production flaws in a film. In this article, we will discuss “How Old Was Natalie Portman in the Phantom Menace?” Please read this article for all information. In addition, if this article was useful, please offer feedback. Your feedback is precious to us.

How Old Was Natalie Portman in the Phantom Menace?

The Phantom Menace, the first film in the trilogy, debuted in 1999, making Natalie Portman about seventeen or eighteen at the time of production. Not too far off from Padmé herself, who’s fourteen when she becomes a queen on the run (once her planet is blockaded by the Trade Federation) and settles on everyone’s favorite sandbox Tatooine, where she meets 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker.

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Natalie Portman as Padmé

Although Natalie Portman’s involvement in the Star Wars saga dates back far further than that, the films were her very first high-profile productions. She had only ever played supporting roles up to this time, such as that of Al Pacino’s suicidal daughter in Heat.

Portman made the effort to see every movie from the 1970s in order to familiarise herself with the milieu she would be submerged in, even though she was unaware of the saga at the time of being cast.

Queen Padmé Amidala, the love interest of young Anakin Skywalker, was to be played by Portman. Portman had to learn how to talk with an accent because Padmé had a British one.

She researched the accents of Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, and Audrey Hepburn to do this. She found that mastering these accents not only benefited her in her role as Padmé but also helped her land future jobs.

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Take a Look at Natalie Portman Early Career!

Portman successfully landed the main part in Luc Besson’s action movie Léon: The Professional six months after Ruthless! finished (1994). She changed her stage name to Portman, the maiden name of her paternal grandmother, in order to maintain her privacy.

She portrayed Mathilda, a little orphan who becomes pals with an older hitman (played by Jean Reno). Due of the script’s extreme sexuality and violence, her parents were hesitant to allow her to play the part. However, they accepted once Besson removed the nudity and the murders committed by Portman’s character.

After those sequences were cut, Portman acknowledged that she didn’t find the subject to be offensive. Nevertheless, despite not being in the original script, some of the “sexual twists and turns” in the finished movie bothered her mother.

Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times felt that Portman wasn’t “enough of an actress to reveal Mathilda’s sorrow” and questioned Besson’s sexualization of her character. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post praised Portman for delivering a “real sense of grief” to her part.

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