Natalie Portman reveals how she brought Padme Amidala to life
Summary Natalie Portman took inspiration from Kabuki theater for her portrayal of Queen Amidala, using the characters’ slow, regal movements as inspiration for the role. Portman altered her voice to make it deeper at the request of George Lucas, but Queen Amidala’s classic voice was digitally altered to make it even deeper. Queen Amidala is […]
Summary
- Natalie Portman took inspiration from Kabuki theater for her portrayal of Queen Amidala, using the characters’ slow, regal movements as inspiration for the role.
- Portman altered her voice to make it deeper at the request of George Lucas, but Queen Amidala’s classic voice was digitally altered to make it even deeper.
- Queen Amidala is an incredible character, especially since she is only 14 years old in “The Phantom Menace”, and her character gets stronger in the following films.
Natalie Portman explains how she brought the powerful Padmé Amidala to the big screen in Star Wars’ prequel trilogy, George Lucas still wanted to make some changes. Padmé first appeared in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as a teenage queen, which meant she had to look special. To master this, Natalie Portman had a very specific inspiration.
Even though this influence came from a wonderful place, George Lucas wasn’t totally convinced. In an interview in the latest issue of Empire Magazine, Natalie Portman explained her process for bringing Padmé to life:
“When I was in Japan doing press for Léon when I was 13, I had the opportunity to see Kabuki theater,” she explains of her Phantom Menace physique. “When I saw the designs of Queen Amidala’s costumes, hair and makeup, I immediately thought of them. I tried to use some of the ways I observed the characters moving their eyes, the slow, regal way they moved their bodies, as inspiration for the role.”
Portman went on to explain that although she took that inspiration and made changes to her voice to deepen it the way George Lucas wanted, she discovered that ultimately Queen Amidala’s classic voice had been altered digitally to make it even more serious.
Natalie Portman’s Queen Amidala Is Truly Unforgettable
Queen Amidala in The Phantom Menace is an incredible character, especially since she was 14 at the time, and Padmé becomes an even stronger character in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones And Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. While it is of course significant that Padmé becomes the wife of Anakin Skywalker and the mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, her other roles cannot be understated. In fact, the deleted scenes from Padmé’s canon essentially show her starting the Rebellion..
Beyond that, however, Padmé is one of the most well-rounded characters of all. Star Wars and is extremely insightful. Not only did she anticipate that the Republic was heading down a dark path, but she also suspected before anyone else that Count Dooku was behind the attempt on her life. Unfortunately, few people listened to his wisdom throughout the prequel trilogy.
The public practically begged Star Wars via their many social media accounts to bring back Natalie Portman as Padmé, especially now that Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen have both reprized their roles. This might prove a little more difficult in Padmé’s case, as she died in Revenge of the Sith and was unable to return as a Force ghost, but hope remains for stories set elsewhere in the timeline. Even if she doesn’t return, Padmé remains one of the Star Wars’ best characters, in part because Natalie Portman played it so well.
Source: Empire Magazine
