Natalie Portman | WellnessMaster

During the press tour for her new film May December, Natalie Portman is taking time is taking time to reflect on some of her biggest movies to date.

In an interview with Andy Cohen for Watch What Happens Live! recently, the Oscar-winner was asked about her early work, including the 1999 film, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

Portman starred as Padmé Amidala, a role she would reprise in the sequels Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, back when she was just 18 years of age.

Whilst discussing her experience on set and her willingness to reprise the role in future Star Wars properties, Cohen asked Portman what she thought of getting to meet The Royal Family at The Phantom Menace premiere back in ’99.

“I remember Prince Charles, he was then Prince Charles, asked me if I was in the originals. I was like, ‘No, I’m 18!’ But he was very friendly.”

The original Stars Wars saga began in 1977 with Star Wars, and kickstarted the careers of leads Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. Portman, meanwhile, was born only two years old when the final film – Return of the Jedi – was released in 1983.

Then Prince of Wales meets Natalie Portman at The Phantom Menace Royal Film Performance at the Odeon Leicester Square

The actress, who had already starred in blockbuster Léon: The Professional by the time she appeared in her first Star Wars film, also revealed it was her first time working digitally with a green screen, which was “amazing”.

“I don’t think anyone was shooting that way then. It was my first time working with a green screen. It was a whole new set of skills to pick up and a whole new world to enter.”

The Phantom Menace was only Portman’s sixth feature film. She has since gone on to star in the likes of Closer, V for Vendetta, Thor, Jackie and Black Swan, for which she won a Best Actress at the 83rd Academy Awards.

Portman admitted to Cohen that even though no one has asked her to reprise her Star Wars character, she would be open to doing so.

This comes after filmmaker Taika Waititi revealed to Rolling Stone that he once shared his plans for directing an upcoming Star Wars with Portman, and asked her if she would ever consider joining the franchise.

“I’ve been in Star Wars movies”, she told Waititi, who was forced to admit that he had forgotten she’d starred quite significantly in the prequel trilogy.

You can watch Natalie Portman’s Watch What Happens Live appearance here, and catch May December on Sky Cinema in the UK from 8 December.

Natalie Portman is addressing the unspoken rules that women face in society — and at one event in particular.

On Saturday, the Oscar winner talked about her new film May December during the Cannes Film Festival, noting that the movie’s theme of “performing femininity” was relevant to the French event itself.

“Performing femininity is … something I’m definitely very curious about,” she said at a press conference for the film. “The different ways that we as women are expected to behave — at this festival, even — compared to men. How we’re supposed to look, how we’re supposed to carry ourselves.”

She added: “The expectations are different on you all the time, and it affects how you behave. Whether you’re buying into it or whether you’re rejecting it or whether you’re doing something in between, you’re definitely defined by the social strictures upon you.”

According to Portman, the “different roles we play in different environments” are of special interest to director Todd Haynes, whose film Carol similarly touched on that idea in 2015.

Natalie Portman said the theme of her new film was relevant to the Cannes Film Festival and its expectations for women.

Ironically, multiple women were reportedly denied entry to the Cannes premiere of Carol that year because they didn’t wear high-heeled shoes. Filmmaker Asif Kapadia, for example, said that his wife had been briefly turned away.

“I think everyone should wear flats, to be honest,” actor Emily Blunt said in response to the news at the time, calling it “very disappointing”.

In the years following the Carol premiere, some festival attendees began to push back on event’s apparent expectations for women. Julia Roberts famously walked Cannes’ red carpet barefoot in 2016, while Kristen Stewart publicly ditched her Christian Louboutin heels in 2018.

Portman made her comments this weekend as Cate Blanchett appeared at the festival barefoot and Jennifer Lawrence walked the red carpet in flip-flops.

Speaking alongside Portman, May December co-star Julianne Moore offered her own thoughts on the gender divide.

“Women are not a minority group. We’re 50% of the global population. So it’s important to be treated as such,” Moore said.

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