Robin Gurland -- Don't Call Her; She'll Call You

Christensen continued to make a series of increasingly selective short-lists, eventually traveling to Skywalker Ranch for an audition before George Lucas, playing opposite Natalie Portman. After his test, he left modestly thinking the whole adventure was over. "Hayden was thinking that it's been great, he got to come down to Skywalker Ranch, meet with George Lucas, and that's the end of it," laughs Gurland. "I was trying to tell him there was more to it, but I didn't want to give my hand away, because it's really delicate at that point. Hayden was thinking I was just trying to be nice. I don't think he realizes how good he is."

Sure enough, Christensen landed the part, for many reasons, though his on-screen rapport with Portman -- the young Naboo Senator who is the object of his forbidden desires -- was essential. "The chemistry between Hayden and Natalie is exquisite. It's palpable. They have a maturity beyond their years, but at the same time, they haven't lost their innate sense of joy and youth."

Portman and Christensen, as well as the other principals, had a wealth of backstory when developing their characters. For other, smaller roles, the characters are much more vague, offering room for interpretation from the supporting actors.

"When George Lucas writes a script, you end up with a series of vignettes that stand alone, or that are very compact scenes," explains Gurland. "Oftentimes, an actor will come to it without a lot of backstory. The character appears, has a function within that vignette, but doesn't exceed that. It's up to the actor to create and fill in the blank spaces of that character. That happened with Alethea McGrath, for example, as Madame Jocasta Nu. She created this huge backstory on Jocasta -- where she was born, how she got there, what her education is -- and it enriches the part, because it gives her more to work with when she's doing her scene."

With characters that were already established yet required new actors -- like the teenage Owen and Beru -- the previous films of the saga provide the needed background, though the actors still often bring in their own histories. "Joel Edgerton did that with Owen, and he's a Star Wars fan. He knew about the original Uncle Owen, and how he interplayed with the rest of the characters, and the little nuances that Phil Brown had created for the original performance."

Edgerton wasn't the only self-proclaimed Star Wars fan in the cast, something that Gurland recalls with a smile. "These guys come to the table knowing so much about Star Wars. Half the time, Jay [Laga'aia], Joel, Ewan or Hayden will start talking about Star Wars, and it's just so lost on me," she laughs.

The pop cultural signifigance of the Star Wars saga is a boon in attracting actors to the project, but it is a double-edged sword. That same weight can also be a burden to a newcomer, and Gurland helps to put matters in perspective and to keep it real. "I have to think of this as a regular movie," she says. "Sometimes you can trip over worrying about the hugeness of it all. You can't let that bleed into your performance or it will paralyze you if you start worrying about 'this is so huge, and it's going to have a shelf-life of a jillion years, and what if I make a mistake? I'll never work again!' That's counter-productive. I'm always the one who pushes it the other way and says, 'Relax, George is just a guy in a plaid shirt. It's okay. He's really easy-going, and if you mess up, we'll just do it again.'"

The popularity of Star Wars also ensured enormous attention when word got out that new films were in the works. Out of all the departments involved in the prequel trilogy, Casting received a the largest -- and most diverse -- number of unsolicited inquiries. "Episode I had a skywriter," sighs Gurland, "the message said 'CAST ME.' It was really odd. Then, I had a fellow who came to my house -- luckily I wasn't there -- in full guerilla gear, carrying flowers."

For this reason, StarWars.com has reminded hopefuls several times that Gurland cannot accept unsolicited head shots, resumes, tapes or phone inquiries. The submissions must come through an accredited agent or agency. All the actors who work on Star Wars, even the ones sometimes referred to by the public as "unknown," are professionals in the field, and all work with an agent.

For those determined to make their dreams come true, there are proven and recommended courses of action for entering into the world of acting. "You can do the more traditional drama school route, where you learn your craft and use that as a jumping-off platform for work," explains Gurland. "Or, you can put yourself out for extra-work, which is often a wonderful way to get started. Or look for independent or student films. Oftentimes, because of budget, they can't afford to pay actors and they'll give someone who has no experience a chance. Try theater, like community theater or off-off fringe theater. Basically, you're just getting out there and starting to gather a body of work, because you have to be prepared when and if you actually do audtion for a film. You have to be able to, in a relatively short period of time, let a casting director know who you really are, and not that you want to be a character, an actor or a star."