Natalie Portman has defended the Star Wars prequels and Léon: The Professional from criticism. The actress played Padmé Amidala in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and Mathilde in The Professional, her first feature film.
Portman spoke to Variety (opens in a new tab) about returning as Jane Foster to the MCU in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, revealing that the negative reception of Thor: The Dark World didn’t affect her decision. “I mean, I had it with The Professional too,” she said. “It was critically butchered, and now, despite having been in the Marvel and Star Wars movies, it’s the main thing that people approach me for. That and Star Wars are two examples of things that when they came out, I was like , ‘Oh my gosh, this is a mess. And then 20 years later, actually 30 years later for The Professional, he’s loved.”
Though Star Wars has returned to the prequel era with the recently released Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Portman has yet to reprise her role as Padmé. Portman will next appear in Thor 4, which will see Jane transformed into Mighty Thor.
“It’s exciting to get to be a superhero,” Portman tells Total Film magazine in the new issue, which features Love and Thunder on the cover. “And there’s no guide that comes along and tells you how to do it.”
She added: “I trained for a long time before and during, and I was doing the complete protein shakes [thing]. It really helped prepare me for the level of action we ended up doing.”
Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters this July 8. For more on the film, check out the new issue of Total Film (opens in a new tab) when it hits shelves (and digital newsstands) this Thursday, June 23. While you wait for the thorquel, check out our Marvel Phase 4 guide for everything else the MCU has in store for us.
