Empire Magazine sat down with Natalie Portman, Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequels, to discuss her latest film Vox Lux and to look back at Star Wars, Leon, Black Swan and her other roles. During the interview Portman opened up about facing the backlash to some of the most anticipated films of all time.
“It was hard,” she recalls. “It was a bummer because it felt like people were so excited about new ones and then to have people feel disappointed. Also to be at an age that I didn’t really understand that’s kind of the nature of the beast. When something has that much anticipation it can almost only disappoint.”
Of course, it’s somewhat of a different story now – while not universally beloved, the Star Wars prequel trilogy now very much has its defenders and unashamed fans, a curious but worthwhile era in the overarching saga. “With the perspective of time, it’s been re-evaluated by a lot of people who actually really love them now,” Portman says. “There’s a very avid group of people who think they’re the best ones now! I don’t have enough perspective to weigh in.”
Read the full Natalie Portman interview in Empire’s June issue, on sale now and available to order online here.
