Natalie Portman Says The Star Wars Prequels Backlash Upset Her

While the Original Trilogy is iconic, the Star Wars prequels are infamous, as fans have been laying into them for 20 years now. As we’ve heard from Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best’s tragic experience, though, it wasn’t fun for the cast and crew who worked on those movies to receive such a fierce backlash.

Case in point: Natalie Portman has now added her name to the list of people who were emotionally affected by all the prequel hate. The star reflected on the situation in a recent interview with Empire, commenting that it was tough for her to accept the negative reception at a young age (Portman was still a teen when The Phantom Menace released).

“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.”

That being said, the actress also noted that she understands that the fandom has slightly “re-evaluated” the merit of the prequels over time, saying:

“With the perspective of time, it’s been re-evaluated by a lot of people who actually really love them now. 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.”

Portman’s definitely right about that. Though maybe not many would claim that the prequels are the best Star Wars has to offer, the generation that grew up with the trilogy certainly hold an affection for them. Padme Amidala, in particular, is held in quite high regard these days, as the character is often said to have been given short shrift in the movies, particularly Revenge of the Sith. 

That’s why many are hoping that Portman might be returning in this year’s The Rise of Skywalker. After all, it seems to be bringing back stars from across the saga, including Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor Palpatine and possibly Hayden Christensen’s Anakin as well. Unfortunately, the actress has previously played down these rumors, but then again, she did just make another unexpected franchise comeback in Avengers: Endgame, so anything’s possible.

In any case, we’ll see how things transpire when the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives on December 20th.