The Phantom Menace: An Oral History

Many interviews and articles have emerged on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Episode I, just a few days ago. Of all of them, this collection of interviews and memories of the creators of the film (including George Lucas) for StarWars.com, highlights. Among the memories, we have those of Iain McCaig, who recalls how Natalie´s face was the inspiration for many of his designs, even before being hired for the film:

Every time I would start with Natalie Portman, because I had seen her in The Professional. I counted the years from that to this and realized she was exactly the right age for the queen, and I just kept drawing and drawing and drawing her because I loved her face. George came up to me at one point and said, “Do you know this girl?” And I said, “No, sir, but she’s your queen.” And lo and behold, she was cast shortly after! The one and only time I actually got a casting choice put through. But that face is so strong and so beautiful and so innocent and so powerful, it can support any amount of crazy stuff going on around it.