![]() Portman was unfamiliar with Star Wars at the time of her casting. Natalie embodied all those traits and more." He stated, "I was looking for someone who was young, strong, along the lines of Leia. According to The Phantom Menace production notes, "The role required a young woman who could be believable as the ruler of that planet, but at the same time be vulnerable and open." Portman's performances in The Professional (1994) and Beautiful Girls (1996) impressed Lucas. They chose 16-year-old actress Natalie Portman to play the role. George Lucas, Rick McCallum, and casting director Robin Gurland auditioned over 200 actresses for the part of Padmé Amidala. ![]() McCaig related the succinct instructions that Lucasfilm provided to artists for the characters, saying, "Amidala was described as 'kind of like Ozma' from The Wizard of Oz." According to McCaig, he chose Portman as a model for his designs because he felt she evoked the Oz character, saying, "She had Ozma's aura of vulnerability and strength." After producer/director George Lucas discussed this with McCaig, the producer inquired, "Do you know this girl?" McCaig replied, "No sir. Frank Baum, was a direct influence on his visualizations. In a 2022 interview with Star Wars Insider, he stated that Princess Ozma, the fictional ruler from the Land of Oz series of novels by L. 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." Paul McDonald notes that there are "inevitable comparisons" between the two characters: "both develop soft spots for rogue pilots, and both have a knack for slipping into and out of stilted British accents." Design and casting Īccording to concept artist Iain McCaig, the earliest reference to Portman came about through his designs for the character. When Lucas drafted the script for The Phantom Menace, he envisioned a "link between Padmé and Princess Leia, the daughter who follows so closely in her footsteps." According to Natalie Portman, "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. But I really debated whether or not Leia should remember her. When I got to Jedi, I wanted one of the kids to have some kind of memory of her because she will be a key figure in the new episodes I'm writing. I had a backstory for her in earlier drafts, but it basically didn't survive. The part that I never really developed is the death of Luke and Leia's mother. The mother died shortly thereafter, and Luke's sister was adopted by Ben's friends, the governor of Alderaan and his wife." Lucas is quoted as saying: She and their mother were "sent to the protection of friends in a distant system. įilm historian Laurent Bouzereau reports that the second draft of the screenplay for Return of the Jedi contained dialogue in which Obi-Wan explains to Luke that he has a twin sister. Now the daughter has become Luke, Mark Hamill's character. The second version involved a father, his son, and his daughter the daughter was the heroine of the film. The first talked about a princess and an old general. ![]() In initial drafts of the Star Wars story, "Leia is the daughter of Owen Lars and his wife Beru and seems to be Luke's cousin-together they visit the grave of his mother, who perished with his father on a planet destroyed by the Death Star." In an interview, Lucas answered a question about the development of characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, and Leia their mother was not a factor: Padmé Amidala cosplay at Japan Expo in February 2012 in France In addition to being one of three primary characters in the prequel trilogy, Padmé has also appeared in other Star Wars media such as The Clone Wars. Despite the mixed reaction to the character's portrayal, the role helped Portman gain international recognition. Portman's performance received mixed reviews as well, though some have blamed the performance on Lucas' direction and script. Anakin's fear of losing Padmé serves as the catalyst in driving him to the dark side of the Force and becoming Darth Vader.Ĭritical reception to Padmé was mixed some praised the personal and political motives of the character, while others criticized the regression to a plot device for Anakin's fall to the dark side. She secretly marries Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight, then later dies while giving birth to twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. First indirectly mentioned in Return of the Jedi, she is introduced in The Phantom Menace as the teenage Queen of Naboo, and after her reign, becomes a senator and an anti-war activist in the Galactic Senate. Padmé Amidala (née Naberrie) is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, appearing in the prequel trilogy portrayed by Natalie Portman.
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