Was Padme destined to have a greater role in the PT

While its an open secret the Portman did not enjoy making Starwars. I just wondered if screen time wise she was destined to have a larger role and whether it got cut down by George or not???
Anyone know???

 

I think she might have had a smaller role.

 

I'm not really sure, it is difficult to judge without having seen Revenge of the Sith.
Personally, I feel she has had a large roll and as the mother of Luke and Leia, and a political leader it is only right that she be given her time.

George wouldn't cut down her screen time to appease her. Regardless of how she felt about doing the project, she would remain professional and do the job.

The rumor that I heard was that she disliked the summer of The Phantom Menace, but she learned to like it a bit more with the following two films. I'm not sure about that and have always found her acting in Menace to be superior to that seen in Clones.

-Seldon

 

I really don't quite understand this topic. Padme is one of the principle characters in this trilogy, and she has been featured very predominantly in both TPM and AOTC. I don't see how she even could have a greater role in either of those two films. As it is, her role is very large. To be honest, between the two films, I would be willing to wager that Padme has had more screen time than Obi-Wan and maybe even Anakin.



Mace Windy,
too windy for spoilers!

 

She is central to both films.
In Menace, she is the queen in distress, and really the central character. She is in almost every scene of the film.

In Clones, she is one of the lovers, in a story which takes up quite a bit of screen time.
She has a huge role.

-Seldon

 

In Clones, she is one of the lovers, in a story which takes up quite a bit of screen time.

She also starts and keeps the plot moving, "Who tried to assassinate Padme?" is what sparks the whole episode.

- O_F

 

Well, maybe if they had cast someone else and not the Portman, who knows?

I don't know...I think Padmé has a massive, central role in the trilogy. How would you say her role could have been larger?

 

I read that Portman had never done something like this before and so during TPM it was difficult for her but as she learned she had no problems with it. Where did you hear that she didn't like filming these movies?

~ Crystal ~

 

I think that her performance makes that evident.


Seriously though, while Natalie is found of the people involved in these movies, she is not really found of making the movies themselves. Undoubtably, she prefers movie roles with more meat on them - more emotion. Padme has not been a very emotional character up to this point when you compare her to some of Miss Portman's other memorable characters.

Natalie has recently said that she is glad that it will all be over soon.



Mace Windy,
too windy for spoilers!

 

Too bad. Padmé could have been a better character if Portman liked the role... Well, I hope that she felt more at home in RotS, seeing as the only thing that we see her do in the preview is cry



Plus Portman's personality clashed with her character. Padmé is supposedly supposed to very intelegent...

 

"Padmé is supposedly supposed to very intelegent... "

*intelligent

//irony.

Doesn't Portman attend an Ivy League school? What makes you think she isn't intelligent?

 

Yes, Portman is a Harvard attendant. And, actually, Hayden may be as well in the future - he has a tennis scholarship to Harvard.

Padme's character is not so much stupid as she is naive in aspects of her emotional life. She's a fairly cynical, experienced, mature, and highly educated woman. Her problem is that she's too introverted emotionally. Because of her lack of intimate relationships in her life, she was unprepared for Anakin Skywalker and his romantic barrage. He is an animal unlike any she's dealt before - mostly because for all his lackings, his honesty and intensity gets through to her. And this, like any other situation where emotions are allowed full reign, leads to her downfall.

 

Maybe Padmé just likes bad boys.

It's a trait her daughter inherited.

 

Natalie Portman either graduated or is graduating from Harvard with honors. Not only has she excelled in her classes, she has also managed to make movies over the summer. To me, that is someone who is intelligent and talented.

Regardless she has never been enthusiastic for Star Wars, and that is a shame.

-Seldon

 

That always did beg the question - if she didn't know the movies well and wasn't really into the idea behind the film, why do them? I'm thinking it was partly an attempt to get her career into A-list drive using the high profile movie that sort of backfired for her. This is not an awful thing, of course, and I don't think it reflects badly on her as a person. It's what most every actor wants - to excel at their art and be recognized for it. I'm glad to see she did well with films like Closer and Garden State. It's just a shame that SW didn't work out for her.

Additionally, keep in mind that while she was filming AOTC, she admits to being under stress from personal life issues that made her overemotional. She was crying between takes, or so I hear. Not that we know *why,* since Portman's about as tightlipped about her personal life as Jodie Foster.

 

Glad to see a few are finally coming around to what I felt all along. Natalie's heart was never in her performance.

 

Like Mace, I am confused. She has lots of screentime in the existing PT. What else could she have done?

 

I'm not sure that it's a matter of her heart not being there, I think it's a matter of skill. Natalie is a natural actress, she relies on the environment around her to affect her performance. She was never classically trained, or trained much at all, really. Actors like Ian McDiarmid and Liam Neeson can do very well against entire green screen environments because they've been staged trained and know how to act in environments where props are scarce or non-existent. They have been trained to use their imaginations to supply information to better inform their performances. Ewan, I think, took some getting used to it. I think he's gotten better at it with each movie. Similiarly, I think Natalie has as well. But she had much farther to come than Ewan did. Remember, she was just a girl discovered in a pizza shop, not a trained actress. I think she's acquitted herself to the best of her ability, which is more limited than those she's been paired with. But by no means do I think she's giving less than 100% of what she is capable of.

For what it's worth, however much people here may complain about Natalie's performances, ultimately she gives what the director wants of her, and Lucas has said that he is very pleased with her performance in both of the first two films. Which is not sugarcoating. He does admit when he's not happy with things, as you can see where he recently said that 90% of what JW composes he loves, 5% he asks to be changed, and the other 5% he just bites his lip on. So if he says that he is happy with Natalie's performance thus far, then we can only assume that she's giving the performance that is being requested of her. She's hired to do a job and she's doing it.

As for the character of Padme, if anything I think her role has turned into something larger than Lucas had intended it to be. He's admitted that he really didn't know much about the backstory of Luke and Leia's mother when he made the OT, and I think that he's enlarged it greatly since the films have gone into production. I think it was initially just more of a girlfriend part, something secondary, and that somewhere along the line it became something greater. So no, I don't think the part was ever meant to be larger and has been scaled back. If anything, I think it was the opposite.

 

Natalie worked on the stage production of the Diary of Anne Frank before doing star wars IIRC so she did have some experience working with limited surroundings and props.

 

Ya but also remeber that Natalies first role in a film was when she was nine in Leon the Professional. I mean she was outstanding in that and she was only nine.

I think it's safe to say that despite the fact that I love her acting in the PT, SW are not her type of films. She's been in movies like Heat. Also Closer and Garden State, like CS said, these are all really deep roles.

Ya, from what we have seen in the trailersfor ROTS, she does cry a lot, but that doesnt mean she like the role anymore. Also I think its crap that she needed a bigger role. She has had more screen time than Anakin and Obi-Wan. In a way, she has been the central character of both AOTC and TPM.

 

I think Natalie is an extremely overrated actress, so I don't buy the oft-stated idea that she's brilliant and incredible and wonderful when she's away from "Lucas's talent-ruining influence." (She's been blah in movies that he had nothing to do with.) I consider her competent. Sometimes she's more, sometimes she's less -- a lot less.

 

Natalie worked on the stage production of the Diary of Anne Frank before doing star wars IIRC

That was between TPM and AOTC, which may be one reason she was better (IMO) in AOTC than TPM.

 

I was watching an her on Dave Lettermen (I think) and she said she wants to get out of acting. Somehow I don't think she's really all that passionate about the entire business. Its a way to pay the bills. It happens.

~ Crystal ~

 

i think the best and most sincere scene she's done for either of the released films is the scene in her bedroom on naboo that was eventually cut from the theatrical release. it's a shame - had they kept that and a couple of the other family-oriented scenes in, she wouldn't have sounded so ridiculous telling anakin that she loved him before the area battle.

 

I was watching an her on Dave Lettermen (I think) and she said she wants to get out of acting. Somehow I don't think she's really all that passionate about the entire business. Its a way to pay the bills. It happens.

That doesn't surprise me. She's a deeply reserved and private person, and Hollywood isn't really a place to enjoy such a privilege, especially when you start to become big name. The girl also sports a honor-roll Harvard education, so I'm sure she wants to put that to use, as well.

I think Natalie Portman is a good actress. I don't think she's fantastic, but I think she's good. I've always enjoyed her in other films.