Natalie Portman Regrets Bullying 14 of 15 Handmaidens
After nearly 20 years, Queen Amidala has finally issued a long overdue mea culpa! In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Natalie Portman looks back on her career and reveals a series of regrets, most notably her behavior on the set of The Phantom Menace.
“It was unbecoming of me. I made several of my handmaidens cry off-camera, including Keira Knightley who was a timid little thing just starting out. I sincerely apologize for my behavior, but you have to understand I really only had it out for Saché [played by Sofia Coppola]… It’s unfortunate that they all looked alike.
So whatever I may have said or done off-screen to the brave actresses who portrayed Sabé, Rabé, Dormé, Moteé, Teckla, Fé, Eirtaé, Versé, Dané, Ellé, Hollé, Yané, Miré, and Umé wasn’t actually meant for them. Honestly, I find it very upsetting that my attempts to make Sofia’s [Coppola] life on set miserable were misconstrued as anything but personal attacks on her.
If I could go back and do it again, I’d find a way to differentiate between the handmaidens. Like, why did they all have to be straight young white women anyway? That’s the bigger issue the male producers should regret.”
Portman explains her issues with Coppola began early with the daughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola putting on airs. “She was meant to be my handmaiden yet would walk around like she was the queen. Yeah, no,” added Portman, who also leveled claims of nepotism at Coppola.
In addition to her bullying of 15 handmaidens, the star of the upcoming Vox Lux also regrets fueling various tropes throughout her career, including the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and the Actress-Turned-Activist-Turned-Director.
“I was very lucky that what I was cast in wasn’t anything deliberate—serious adult fare and not child-appropriate things. But I feel like I totally ended up in female tropes, like Lolita. And clearly I was responsible for the coining of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Little Miss Badass, Mystical Waif, Prima Donna, Sassy Black Woman, Stripper With a Heart of Gold, Badass Queen, and Soap Box Sadie tropes. I find it very troubling to be part of all that.”
Portman’s statements come as she enters her sixth decade as a child performer in Hollywood. As one of the most vocal proponents of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movement, her new perspective on the past is refreshing and inspirational. The staunch feminist’s Vox Lux hits theaters on December 7.
As always, stay tuned to FakingStarWars.net for all the finest Star Wars comedy, parody, and satire in the galaxy. Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or Google Play for even more unbelievable news from a galaxy far, far away. Also, consider joining our Discord to talk Star Wars and other nonsense as well as supporting us on Patreon… for as little as a buck a month, you can help us fake harder, better, faster, stronger.
-William “Willybobo” Bobo
