Natalie Portman

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

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"I think [Padmé] embodies the true meaning of feminism in my understanding of it. It's about having access to all the same things but then making decisions from your particular point of view…[Padmé] has been a leader of many people, but rather than being consumed with the thirst for power…she stays true to her compassion and her belief in democracy and in humanity."

―Natalie Portman, while filming of Revenge of the Sith in 2003^[3]

Natalie Portman (born Neta-Lee Hershlag^[4] on June 9, 1981^[1]) portrayed Padmé Amidala in the prequel trilogy. Portman won an Academy Award for her starring role in the 2010 film Black Swan and was additionally nominated for her work on the 2004 film Closer and the 2016 film Jackie.

Biography

"It definitely did come into play how strong and smart a character Carrie Fisher portrayed, because I think that a lot of that is passed on from parent to child. I think George wrote Amidala as a strong, smart character, but it helped to know that I had this great woman before me who had portrayed her character as a fiery woman."

―Natalie Portman^[5]

Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel,^[2] in 1981.^[1] She adopted "Portman"—her maternal grandmother's maiden name—as her stage name in order to protect her family's identity,^[6] and starred in the 1994 film Léon: The Professional and a Broadway production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Portman was cast by director George Lucas for the prequel trilogy;^[2] Beginning in 1997, Portman played the role of Queen Padmé Amidala for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, which was released in 1999, when the actress was eighteen years old.^[2]

Keira Knightley was cast as Queen Amidala's handmaiden Sabé partly due to her resemblance of Natalie Portman; during the filming of The Phantom Menace, even their mothers could not tell the two apart when they both appeared with make-up applied.^[7] While Portman studied for her bachelor's degree in psychology at Harvard University, she spent her summer break filming for Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, which was released in 2002.^[2] She began filming for Star Wars: Episode III The Revenge of the Sith in 2003. At the time, she said that her character of Padmé Amidala "embodies the true meaning of feminism" since "it's about having access to all the same things but then making decisions from your particular point of view" and despite the fact Padmé was a leader to her people, she chose to be compassionate and value democracy instead of being consumed by the pursuit for power.^[3] In a 2007 interview, Portman said that though she was pleased with her Star Wars work, she had no plans to work with that universe again.^[8] By 2023, however, she expressed openness to returning.^[9]^[10]

Works

Filmography

Year	Title	Contribution(s)	Notes
1999	Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace	Queen Amidala/Padmé Naberrie^[11]
2002	Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones	Padmé Amidala,^[12] Cordé^[13]	Uncredited as Cordé;^[12] portrayed Cordé prior to the explosion^[13]
2005	Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith	Padmé Amidala^[14]

Bibliography

Year	Title	Format	Contribution(s)
2017	The Phantom Menace Read-Along Storybook and CD	Young reader	Padmé Amidala
2017	Attack of the Clones Read-Along Storybook and CD	Young reader	Padmé Amidala
2017	Revenge of the Sith Read-Along Storybook and CD	Young reader	Padmé Amidala