She would be the acclaimed and award-winning actress Natalie Portman return to the “Star Wars” franchise? The answer might surprise some.
During a recent video of GQ’s “Actually Me,” the Oscar winner perused a “Star Wars” Reddit thread that asked, “Is there any chance Padme/Natalie Portman will return to ‘Star Wars?’ Does her character of her really deserve it for the way she was treated in ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and the overall importance to the Original Trilogy storyline?
Well, Portman provided a direct answer, revealing: “I have no information on this. No one has ever asked me to come back, but I’m open to it.”
Natalie Portman Is Open To A ‘Star Wars’ Return
Portman previously played Padme Amidala, the former queen and later senator of the planet Naboo, in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, beginning with “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” in 1999. She later reprized her role. role in “Star Wars: Episode II – The Clone Wars” in 2002 and “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” in 2005.
Padme eventually fell in love with Anakin Skywalker, the eventual Darth Vader, and gave birth to his twin children, Luke and Leia, at the end of the prequel trilogy. Unfortunately, she Padme died after giving birth, having lost the will to live and seeing her husband turn to the Dark Side.
Portman is no stranger to taking a hiatus and then making a long-awaited return to beloved film franchises. In last year’s “Thor: Love & Thunder,” she reprized her role as Jane Foster after previously disappearing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) after “Thor: The Dark World” in 2013.
The MCU removed Jane from the story by saying that she and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) had broken up off-screen, but the two reunited in “Love & Thunder,” and Jane even gained the powers of the God of Thunder using the old man. Thor’s hammer. , Mjolnir. It was Portman’s first official on-screen appearance for the MCU in nine years.
Lucasfilm has not indicated any projects in the works for Portman to reprise her role, but several actors from across the franchise and saga have reprized their roles in “Star Wars” film and television spin-offs. In last year’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” miniseries, the two stars of the Prequel Trilogy Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprized their respective roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.
The series even featured flashbacks of the two in their youth when they were still a Master and a Padawan. So there are ways that Portman could once again appear as Padme Amidala if Lucasfilm had some ideas in mind. The “Kenobi” miniseries even brought back Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse from the prequels to once again play Luke’s Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru Lars, alongside Jimmy Smits’ character of Senator Bail Organa.
Coincidentally, Portman’s “Thor: Love & Thunder” director Taika Waititi is currently attached to direct and co-write a new live-action “Star Wars” theatrical feature that is currently in the works. The film does not yet have a release date.
In 2011, Portman won her first and only Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in “Black Swan.” She was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2005 for her role in “Closer.” In 2017, she was once again nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the 2016 film “Jackie.”
Additionally, Portman revealed in the GQ video that she kept one of Christensen’s Anakin Padawan braids from the production. However, he later lost it. Although it’s been 18 years since her last foray into the “Star Wars” universe, it’s nice to see that Portman would be willing to return. Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen.
Until then, fans can still watch Portman’s performances as Padme in the prequel trilogy and Jane Foster in the MCU, both of which are now streaming on Disney+.
