We have seen a number of actors from the Star Wars prequel trilogy make a return to the franchise recently. But one who hasn’t returned seems quite open to it, if asked.
In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Natalie Portman said that while it’s not a topic that’s been brought up, she’d be willing to come back. “I have no information on this,” she said. “No one’s ever asked me to return, but I’m open to it.”
There’s obviously nothing much to that statement, but it’s always nice to hear that people are willing to come back to the Star Wars franchise. It’s been nearly two decades since Portman appeared on-screen in a Star Wars film, after starring as Padmé Amidala in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.
While the interest is there on her part, the difficulty is that there’s not an obvious project for her to step in to. Padmé died at the end of Revenge of the Sith, and we don’t know of any current plans from Lucasfilm to re-visit the prequel timeline anytime soon. The most intriguing possibility would be if they would choose to do a second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi and include some flashback scenes, but we know that there are no current plans to even do another season of that series. Because of all of this I’m not at all expecting Portman to return any time soon, but it’s cool to hear that she’d be willing to. And if there’s one thing we know, it’s that Lucasfilm has found ways to bring back beloved actors. That’s happened quite a bit recently.
Last year, we saw the triumphant return of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader. Also in that Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa), Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars), Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn), Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine), and Temuera Morrison (a clone trooper) reprised roles that they had played in the prequels. Then more recently, in The Mandalorian season three, Ahmed Best made an epic return to the franchise, but rather than playing Jar-Jar Binks, he played Jedi Master Kelleran Beq.
I’d love to see Natalie Portman back too, if there’s the right story for it.
Star Wars Thoughts 