Why Bryce Dallas Howard Visited Natalie Portman On The Set Of The Phantom Menace

Bryce Dallas Howard, currently known as the first-lady of modern Star Wars, has recently revealed her link to a previous on-screen Star Wars star, Natalie Portman.

Bryce Dallas Howard who has directed two episodes of the Mandalorian and the fan favourite episode 5 of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ recently let slip that she shares a close friendship with Natalie Portman after meeting at a summer camp during their youth. This friendship resulted in Howard visiting Portman on the set of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace’.

Natalie Portman is of course the Oscar winning actress known to millions across the globe for her leading role in Darren Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' which won her the accolade of ‘Best Actress’ in 2011. To many in the Star Wars fandom however, her most important role will always be that of Padmé Amidala, the wife of Anakin Skywalker and mother of Luke and Leia who helped bring an end to the reign of the Galactic Empire. 

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This visit by a young Bryce Dallas Howard to a Hollywood set will not be surprising to most people, given Howard’s Hollywood heritage. Her father after all is acclaimed actor and director Ron Howard who famously directed the Oscar winning best picture ‘Apollo 13’ starring Tom Hanks. But what is interesting is how Star Wars has been a part of her life long before she took up her role of director.

She knew George Lucas early in her life through her father’s friendship with Lucas that resulted in the partnership between Lucas and her father on the film ‘Willow’. Through this relationship, it also turns out that Bryce Dallas Howard also has a personal connection with the Star Wars franchise 22 years before the Mandalorian.

Following a conversation with Romper, it has been revealed that when Portman was working on the set of the ‘Phantom Menace’ in 1997, she found the experience to be sometimes lonely due to her age and so requested for her friend Howard to visit the set during her time as the young Queen Amidala. See the full quote from Howard below:

“Right after we were at this camp together, she went and filmed the prequels. Since I knew George and I was friends with Natalie, and she was pretty young, she wanted to have a friend come out and visit. And so I got to go out to the set. So when I actually got to direct on Mandalorian, I didn't realise how well I knew Star Wars, but I knew it pretty well. Of course there's always more to learn.”

Whilst the two actresses share a friendship and have both played key roles to the success of the franchise, they are yet to share the screen in any television or film production. It does however show the reach of Star Wars expands beyond the realms of on-screen action. 

It appears that this newly surfaced link between Howard and the Star Wars franchise is just another reason to add to the list of reasons why Bryce Dallas Howard may be remembered as one of the most impactful directors of Star Wars and why she was the right choice for the job of taking Star Wars in an exciting new direction on television. 

Most importantly, Howard’s willingness to learn the lore of the ‘Galaxy far far away’ and improve her craft shows that she has a bright future in bringing more success to Star Wars, which will hopefully be reflected when she takes the reigns for an episode of Ahsoka in the upcoming series.

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Source(s):Wikipedia, Fandom, Romper