Natalie Portman explained that after her role as Padme Amidala in the George Lucas saga, no director wanted to work with her.
Natalie Portman, an Oscar-winning actress, said that when she got the role of Padme Amidala in Star Wars, she thought it would be the takeoff of her career, but this was not the case, because she did not help her get new contracts.
"Star Wars came out at the same time as The Seagull, a play, and everyone thought I was a lousy actress. I was in the highest-grossing movie of the decade and no director wanted to work with me," Natalie Portman said in an interview with Magazine.
The Black Swan actress, a character with whom she won an Oscar, explained that the late director Mike Nichols, who directed her in the play The Seagull, helped her to resume her career.
"Mike wrote a letter to Anthony Minghella and said, 'Book her to Cold Mountain, I vouch for her.' Anthony then recommended Tom Tykwer, who in turn recommended the Wachowskis," Portman concluded.
"It was hard," she revealed in an interview with Magazine, "a big blow because at first people were very excited about these new movies and then they were very disappointed." The Phantom Menace, along with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, served as prequels to the original trilogy, and in all of them, the actress played Padme Amidala. "Being so young I did not understand the nature of the beast, but then I realized that something so, so anticipated could only lead to disappointment."
Portman was able to redirect her career as an actress after the critical and public blows suffered by these films (other actors, such as Jake Lloyd, were not so lucky), however, she has been able to see how, over the years, opinion towards the prequels has been changing. “The trilogy has been re-evaluated by people who now love it, some even think it's the best!” she exclaims, sharing the enthusiasm of her former co-star Ewan McGregor.
