The Moons of Iego: The Padmé Amidala & Anakin Skywalker Website

QUOTES : CAST & CREW

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star wars insider + other lucasfilm releases + other media

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Star Wars Insider magazine

#47 (December/January 2000), Natalie Portman interview.
Interviewer: We all know that in the future, Anakin and Amidala get together. Did you think about that in your scenes with Jake Lloyd [Anakin, Episode I]?
Natalie: No. Because in Episode I, it's very innocent and very sweet. I don't think there's any suggestion of anything impure in their relationship. It's a friendship in the first film, and I think it's great to portray it that way, because I think everyone realizes that the greatest love comes from friendship."

#53 (May/June 2001), Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine) interview.
McDiarmid: "George had always said Episode II would be a love story, and it has a sort of real courtly delicacy about it. The whole relationship between Padmé and Anakin is very moving and delicately done, but it's also quite passionate. It's a strong relationship and a strong attraction that they have, and that's present in the script."

#59 (May/June 2002), A Word From George Lucas.
GL: "...In Episode I, young Anakin had a crush on Queen Amidala. Ten years later, this crush has turned into love, even though romantic love is forbidden for a Jedi. Anakin is torn between his loyalty to the Jedi Order and his uncontrollable passion for Padmé."

Other Lucasfilm Media

Attack of the Clones soundtrack insert, George Lucas.
"Their love is complicated-- pure yet forbidden, personal but with profound ramifications for an entire galaxy."

The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, concept artist Iain McCaig.
"One of the things that lured me back to work on Episode II was I got very fond of Padmé and Anakin in the first film. I wanted to see what happened to them."

AOTC VHS "Connections" featurette #1 - Anakin.
Threepio: "It was there that he met the girl who would become the love of his life - Padmé Amidala."

AOTC VHS "Connections" featurette #2 - The Skywalkers.
Threepio: "...and though their love was tragic, the galaxy is a far better place for it, since they became the parents of Luke and Leia."

Chris Neil : Coaching Vader [Official Site Behind the Scenes profile of the RotS dialogue coach]
Neil: "I read all of Joseph Campbell's work that I could get my hands on. It reminded me of the story behind Padmé and Anakin's relationship; especially the pivotal journey for both of those characters."
Neil: "But the actors also need an emotional script to help with their reactions between each other during a scene. Anakin's been gone for this long, what kind of emotions has that brought up for Padmé? How has she dealt with the pregnancy? Is there resentment in the relationship? What kind? How have the characters dealt with separation in the past? How does Anakin feel about the secret now?"
Neil: "I wanted [Hayden and Natalie] to grasp the history of the relationship between the two characters and reveal the intimacy of two young people in love with subtler details... For example, what if when Padmé walks into the room, she puts her hand on Anakin's shoulder? That may not be written in the script, but it suggests a loving moment. It's those little things that help create a history between the characters, which in turn [make] them more believable."
Neil: "There's a soft side to Anakin in the beginning of the story. He's really just a young guy in love."

Official Site "Homing Beacon" newsletter (March 2001), R. A. Salvatore [AotC novel author] interview:
"When Amidala first sees Anakin again, I really enjoyed writing that scene. I know that the most powerful scenes in the movie are going to be when those two are together... Their relationship is very complex. Here's a guy we know is heading for darkness. I was afraid that the turnover for Anakin was gonna be just a simple thing. People don't snap like that and go over to the dark side. Maybe they have temporary rage, but they don't become Darth Vader because of that. But with Anakin, there's a LOT more to it. That's the real beauty of it. She's a big part in what's going on in him. It's all with the best intentions, they're just misplaced. I think that was a nice touch with the script."

Dressing A Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars, by Trisha Biggar.
Rick McCallum: "My favorite costume that Trisha designed for the prequel trilogy is the one Natalie wears in her funeral. It's a very moving shot in which her open coffin slowly glides under the camera. I remember asking Trisha why she chose the specific fabric and color for that dress. She looked at me in bewilderment, and very gently explained to me that the color - this beautiful azure blue - and the rippled fabric matched the ethereal and melancholy landscape of the Naboo lake retreat at Lake Como, where Padmé and Anakin fell in love. This is where Padmé had wanted to escape with Anakin, and the funeral gown symbolizes her spiritual return to that lake."

Padmé and Anakin Unite in The Clone Wars (Official Site interviews Cat Taber, voice of Clone Wars Padmé): October 16, 2008.
CT: "What was fun about this episode was that it was the first time in The Clone Wars that Padmé and Anakin are physically together. In the movie, they only interacted via hologram, so this is a chance to see us together, fighting side by side. It's sort of the Star Wars version of a date, and it's always really fun to see these characters interact. Their secret relationship is so central to the larger Star Wars story, and every time they're together it gives us a glimpse into what's to come and why."

Other Media

Vanity Fair, March 2002, George Lucas, "Love in a Distant Galaxy" article feature.
GL: "I'd call it more a love haiku than a love sonnet. It's shorter than a traditional love story, thinner than a traditional love story, but still, hopefully, has the same impact as a traditional love story."

Same as above, Hayden Christensen.
[referring to Anakin's personal dilemma in Episode II] "Do I choose my love, or do I choose the way of the Jedi? Really, you can't do both."

Request magazine, April 2002, Hayden interview.
[regarding Natalie, and the denials of an off-screen romance between them] "She's a good actress. Very professional and amazing to work off of. It's easy to look at her and be absorbed by her. It wasn't hard for me to look at her with loving eyes."

Entertainment Weekly, April 12, 2002 issue, "II's Company" article, Hayden's interview.
"Anakin is protecting Amidala and he falls in love. It's a conflict, because a Jedi is not supposed to experience romantic love. And there's animosity between Anakin and Obi-Wan because Anakin is developing quickly as a Jedi and thinks he should have a position of [greater] importance. Conflicting ambitions and desires make him boil; he doesn't just snap and go to the dark side."

Same article as above, producer Rick McCallum.
[regarding the reunion of Anakin and Padmé in AotC] "It"s a major moment. He [Anakin] has thought about her every day of his life since he was eight."

Same article as above, Natalie.
"A lot of people who read [for the role of Anakin] were great, but Hayden could alternate between young and immature and dark and sinister. The dangerous guy you can fall for."

Starlog magazine #299, June 2002, "Queen of Hearts" (Natalie interview).
Natalie: "Anakin and Amidala meet up in Clones, and they haven't seen each other since the audience last saw them together [in Episode I]. It's a fossilized relationship that's been resurrected. It was caught in a time capsule-- not unlike film-- and now it's back and they're bringing it back to life again. It has changed, though. It's not the same relationship. Now it's about a woman and a man. And it takes a while, especially because Anakin hasn't matured as much as she has. But he has this real passion and it excites her, because it's very much like her own passion for what she does and her intensity, although there's something much more sinister about his. Hers is a very youthful, idealistic, save-the-world kind of passion, and his is not quite as clear-cut and sunny. Also, for someone who thinks she can make everything better and save everybody, obviously Anakin's issues are very attractive to her."

New York Daily News: "Christensen Seduced By Dark Side," October 30, 2003.
Hayden (on Natalie) : "She's a real sweetie, and a good kisser." [grins] "No, make that a fantastic kisser!"

Bai Ling Talks Episode III (IGN news story), July 22, 2004.
Ling (a Senator in ROTS): "I think they are a perfect couple, when I see the two of them together... When they're together, it's just so sweet."

About.com - Hayden Talks Episode III - October 6, 2005.
Hayden: “I really like [the P/A relationship] in that it’s what drives him to commit these horrible acts. He’s doing it for, he thinks, the good of his love. Obviously she doesn’t see it that way so the relationship goes south. But no, I mean that’s what sort of makes it all hit home, I think for me and most audiences. That transformation is something that is driven by love, which is something that I like.”

TheForce-Cast: "In The Cantina With Matt Lanter" (voice of Clone Wars Anakin), September 2, 2008.
Interviewer: "Are we going to see some things in-between [A/P falling in love and things falling apart]?"
ML: "Definitely. And again, without giving too much away about the series, I can tell you that Padmé is there, and um, there are some episodes that - there's a lot of Anakin and Padmé."
Interviewer: "Oh, very cool."
ML: "Yeah, so you might get to see some development in that relationship."

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