Like Leia, Amidala has carried both a royal title and a Senatorial role. "Amidala is now a Senator--she's not a Queen anymore," Portman said. "She has resigned because she believes that is the way a rightful government is conducted, that one leader should not be in power too long. At this point, she is still very powerful and respected, and she's putting her career in front of her personal plans. The fact that Amidala doesn't start a relationship with Anakin when she has feelings for him shows that she doesn't really think of her own desires before her role as a leader of people."
Portman said her character sacrifices her own happiness because her convictions are so strong. "She's a very idealistic person," the actress said. "She's a very honest and good person, and because of that, sometimes she's a naïve person. She doesn't imagine that other people aren't as good as she is. She's very strong and intelligent, but her weakness is that she doesn't think about what she needs for herself. She is always thinking about her career and role as a leader, as opposed to her role as a woman, a person, a human being."
The forbidden nature of her love for Anakin makes it all the more important for Padmé to submerge her true feelings and play the part of the politician, Portman said. "She's more comfortable in the role of leader," she explained, "and she's obviously more comfortable acting the older person, especially at the beginning of the film with Anakin."
But eventually, Amidala's walls come down, and Portman said her job was made easier thanks to the natural chemistry she shared with actor Hayden Christensen. "Hayden's a wonderful actor," she said. "I'm really impressed by him. He's very confident. I was scared he would be intimidated that it was Star Wars and he would be nervous, but he's not. I've done 10 films, and I still get nervous--even around him, because he's a great actor--but he's very confident in his abilities."
When it comes to her own approach to acting, Portman said that for
Attack of the Clones, "I didn't do much preparation besides reading the script and going over my scenes before I did them. I usually think that knowing the story and understanding what's happening in a scene is enough preparation. I'm not super-serious about my work. I don't want to take it too seriously, because I think part of the fun of
Star Wars is that it's got issues within it, but it's a light film."
Still, Portman said that underneath the special effects, there's a lot going on in the Skywalker saga. "I think
Star Wars appeals to people because it has very basic themes that are central to everyone's lives," she said. "What is good? What is evil? How do they interact and change us and shape us as human beings? The big
Star Wars themes are these forces of good and evil, the Force and the dark side, and that they sometimes come out of balance."
On its own, however, Portman said, "If you had to describe Attack of the Clones out of the context of the other ones, I wouldn't say good versus evil was the main theme of it. This one is a love story more than anything else. But there is foreshadowing of Anakin's dark side--it's a major factor."
