Natalie Portman says King Charles asked her at Phantom Menace premiere if she was in original Star Wars trilogy

Natalie Portman has recalled the moment she met King Charles III at the premiere of The Phantom Menace.

The actor was only a teenager when the first instalment of the second Star Wars trilogy was released in cinemas around the world in 1999.

She played Padmé Amidala in the franchise and it was only the seventh film in her career.

The role helped catapult her into stardom and made her a household name in Hollywood for years.

Because the premiere of a new Star Wars trilogy was such a big deal at the time, the cast had one hell of a premiere in London.

It was there that Portman got to meet the then Prince of Wales.

She recalled the moment during an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

“I remember Prince Charles, he was then Prince Charles, asked me if I was in the originals,” she said

“I was like, ‘No, I’m 18!’ But he was very friendly.”

The first three Star Wars movies were released in 1977, 1980 and 1983.

Portman was only born in 1981, so she was only just starting to get around on her two feet when Return of the Jedi dropped.

But her character ended up having a huge impact on the franchise as she birthed twins Luke and Leia Skywalker with Anakin, who ended up becoming Darth Vader.

She sadly died in the third film of her trilogy, Revenge of the Sith, however, she explained in her interview with Cohen that she would absolutely be down to come back to Star Wars.

Lucasfilms/20th Century Fox

Portman says it was an incredible experience to be on such a huge production when she was only a teenager.

“It was the first time I worked digitally. I don’t think anyone was shooting that way then," she said.

"It was my first time working with a green screen. It was a whole new set of skills to pick up and a whole new world to enter.”

Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi is leading the next Star Wars film and he awkwardly asked if Portman wanted to be in it without realising she already had appeared.

Portman told GQ magazine last year: “He says he did [forget] because he like asked me if I wanted to be in a Star Wars movie and I was like, ‘I was'.

“I thought he was joking. He’s such a joker that I thought it was a joke. And then afterward he said in some interview that he was like cringing afterward.”

Topics: Star Wars, King Charles III

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

@stewartperrie