Taika Waititi Offered Natalie Portman a Star Wars Role After Forgetting She’s in the Prequel Trilogy

The upcoming Star Wars movie from director Taika Waititi could have featured Natalie Portman in a major role… if she hadn’t already been there and done that. In the Star Wars prequel trilogy – which consists of 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, 2002’s Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – Portman was featured in the prominent role of Padmé Amidala. But that’s a fact that apparently slipped Waititi’s mind.

Recently, Waititi worked with Portman on the new Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunder. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the director spoke about why he brought back Portman’s character from the previous Thor movies to appear in the next sequel. He said it seemed like the right time to do so in the story, and fortunately for the filmmakers, Portman was pretty quick to get on board to appear as Mighty Thor.

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“Basically I was like, a lot of fans miss Jane Foster, and people want to see her again. It just seemed like the perfect opportunity, because the character was so great in the Jason Aaron run of Thor. Kevin [Feige] was already like, ‘I’d love to try and figure out a way to bring Mighty Thor into this film and bring Natalie back.’ It didn’t take much convincing. She had never heard of that run of the comic, so I just dropped off some comics for her…. Anytime you ask, how did we cast so-and-so? We offered them millions of dollars and they said yes! [Laughs]”

Portman must have enjoyed the experience as she asked Waititi about potentially getting involved with his next project. Waititi mentioned how he was working on a Star Wars film and asked her if she’d be interested in appearing in that franchise. As Waititi explains, Portman had to remind him that she’s already had her time in the Star Wars franchise.

“Natalie said to me, what do you do next? And I said ‘I’m trying to work on a Star Wars thing. Have you ever wanted to be in a Star Wars movie?’ She said, ‘I’ve been in Star Wars movies.’ I forgot about those ones.” [Laughs]

Related: How the Star Wars Prequels Went From Being Hated to Loved

Natalie Portman Can Be Seen in Thor: Love and Thunder

Marvel Studios

Perhaps Natalie Portman won’t be involved with Taika Waiti’s Star Wars movie, but she can be seen in a major role in the director’s newest movie. Thor: Love and Thunder stars Portman alongside Chris Hemsworth with the two teaming up as Jane “Mighty Thor” Foster and Thor alongside Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Korg (Waititi) to stop the sinister Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) from destroying every god.

Thor: Love and Thunder officially premieres in movie theaters on July 8, 2022. It’s unclear when Waititi’s Star Wars film will be released, but his next movie, the sports dramedy Next Goal Wins, will be released in 2023. That film stars Michael Fassbender and Elisabeth Moss and follows a Dutch-American football coach turning the American Samoa national team into an elite squad.

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