“It’s hard to shoot in front of a green screen”: the confession of this Star Wars icon

© Lucasfilm

The Star Wars trilogy consisting of episodes I, II, and III, has its fans and its detractors. In any case, it made it possible to launch or confirm a generation of talented actors, including Natalie Portman. The one who has since become one of the stars of world cinema was then very young and still in high school.

When special effects bother the actors

In an interview given in 2002 to the specialist magazine Star Wars Insider, she returned to her difficulties and surprises on the set. While these feature films were among the first to use digital special effects on a massive scale, she indicated in particular her confusion:

Working in front of a blue screen is the most difficult form of acting, because everything is in the imagination. On stage, the best way to work is to let yourself go and be in the thick of it because you have your set, your costumes, all the actors, and you work in order, so it's easier to feel the situation.

She then added: “It’s great to be part of a movie like Star Wars, because you realize how small a role you play as an actor . Usually in movies you're the center of attention, but acting in Star Wars puts you in your place, because you realize it's still two years later the end of filming so that the film is finished.”

This has since become the norm on certain productions, and we think in particular of the Marvel superhero films, or the Avatar franchise where the post-production phase can last months or years.

The weak point of episode II

In the end, we can say that the mission was accomplished for Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, and all the others who knew how to convey tension and many emotions on screen.

Of course, not everything was perfect in these feature films. George Lucas himself admitted in the book The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sithby J.W. Rinzler that the romantic relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala was difficult to show: “Showing how much Anakin and Padmé love each other is one of my weak points. It is difficult to express it on screen”.

The scenes are often skipped by fans who have gotten into the habit of sparing themselves these somewhat long and laborious dialogues. Episode II is no less ambitious, launching the Clone Wars, which gave rise to an excellent animated series.

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