Vulture has an article featuring Robert Redford, Julia Roberts, Eric Idle and Natalie Portman remembering the late Mike Nichols and the effect he had on their lives and careers and an interesting passage comes via Portman who remembers how Nichols helped her find work after starring in George Lucas‘ Star Wars prequels.
Star Wars had come out around the time of ‘Seagull‘, and everyone thought I was a horrible actress. I was in the biggest-grossing movie of the decade, and no director wanted to work with me. Mike wrote a letter to Anthony Minghella and said, “Put her in Cold Mountain, I vouch for her.” And then Anthony passed me on to Tom Tykwer, who passed me on to the Wachowskis.
Portman, of course, would later star in Closer for Nichols, for which she won a Golden Globe and would be nominated for an Oscar, but to the point of her being a horrible actress, I never quite blamed her for her performance as much as I blame Lucas, his direction and screenplays. After all, what director would ever leave this following scene in a movie as is?
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Whenever I talk about the prequels this moment is one I never fail to mention. It is the single worst moment in all of the prequels as Portman’s character falls out of a spaceship, lies there feigning agony, only to pop right up and start barking orders. I only wish the clip didn’t end where it does because her running off after her little “We gotta get to that hanger” moment is laugh out loud hilarious.
