FROM THE EDITOR

LIKE THE REST OF THE GALAXY, WE AT TV GUIDE ARE IN THE THROES OF “STAR WARS” MANIA, WHICH INSPIRED US TO DO SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL TO COMMEMORATE THIS WEEK’S RELEASE OF “THE PHANTOM MENACE.”  SO WHEN IT CAME TIME TO CHOOSE A COVER FOR THIS ISSUE – WHICH INCLUDES INTERVIEWS WITH THE FILM’S CREATOR, GEORGE LUCAS, ITS STARS AND A SPECIAL “STAR WARS” CROSSWORD PUZZLE – WE TURNED TO LONGTIME “STAR WARS” ARTIST DREW STRUZAN TO CREATE FOUR PORTRAITS THAT TOGETHER FORM ONE EXTRAORDINARY SCENE.

STRUXAN BEGAN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH “STAR WARS” BY DESIGNING A POSTER FOR THE FIRST FILM’S 1977 RUN AND HAS SINCE DONE DOZENS OF ILLUSTRATIONS TIED TO THE SERIES’ SUCCESSFUL MOVIES AND BOOKS, INCLUDING THE “PHANTOM MENACE” POSTER.  YOU’VE ALSO UNDOUBTEDLY SEEN HIS POSTERS FOR SUCH HITS AT “E.T.” AND “RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.”  WITH A RESUME LIKE THAT, IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT WHEN WE APPROACHED STRUZAN, HE HAD ALREADY ATTENDED A TOP-SECRET SCREENING OF “MENACE” AND WAS EAGER TO SIT DOWN IN HIS BACKYARD STUDIO IN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, AND INTERPRET THE FILM VISUALLY.  “I TOOK THE THEME OF THE BRIGHT DOUBLE-SUNS, THE CAMERA FLARE, AS KIND OF A MOTIF,” HE SAYS.  “I INCLUDED SOME OF THE RECOGNIZABLE OBJECTS, LIKE THE LIGHTSABERS AND R2, SO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE BACK IN THE “STAR WARS” UNIVERSE.”

HIS UNIQUE STYLE HAS WON HIM MANY FANS.  IN FACT, YEARS AGO, IN AN EXCHANGE STRUZAN SAYS HE WILL NEVER FORGET, LUCAS ( WHOM STRUZAN DESCRIBES AS HIS PERSONAL HERO ) TOLD HIM, “I THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY COLLECTIBLE ARTIST SINCE WORLD WAR II.”  WE’RE PLEASED TO BRING YOU FOUR COLLECTIBLES WORTHY OF THE JEDI MASTER HIMSELF.

STEVE REDDICLIFFE  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

STAR WARS SPECIAL BACK IN FORCE!

THE MOVIE THAT WOULD AMAZE A GENERATION OPENED SMALL, IN ONLY 32 THEATERS, AND STARRED SOME LITTLE-KNOWN ACTORS NAMED HARRISON FORD, CARRIE FISHER AND MARK HAMILL, BUT IN 1977, WORD SPREAD QUICKLY ABOUT GEORGE LUCAS’S “STAR WARS,” ABOUT THE COOL SPACESHIPS, THE FUNKY ALIEN BAR AND THE POWERFULLY SIMPLE STORY IN WHICH A YOUNG MAN NAMED LUKE SKYWALKER LEAVES HOME TO FOLLOW HIS DESTINY, RESCUE A PRINCESS AND SAVE A TROUBLED GALAXY.

THE PLOT DARKENED IN 1980 WITH “THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK,” THEN WAS WRAPPED UP IN 1983’S “THE RETURN OF THE JEDI.”  LUKE HAD LEARNED THE WAYS OF THE FORCE AND TRIUMPHED OVER THE EVIL ( AND SURPRISINGLY FAMILIAL ) DARTH VADER.  THE END.

UNTIL NOW.  ON MAY 19, THE FORCE RETURNS WITH “STAR WARS EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE,” THE FIRST OF THREE PREQUELS TO THE ORIGINAL “STAR WARS” TALE, ( THE NEXT TWO INSTALLMENTS ARE SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN 2002 AND 2005).  “PHANTOM” RECOUNTS THE CHILDHOOD OF LUKE’S FATHER, ANAKIN SKYWALKER ( JAKE LLOYD), A 9-YEAR-OLD PRODIGY WITH A POWERFUL AND DANGEROUS ABILITY TO USE THE FORCE.

NOW TV GUIDE OFFERS A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE WITH THIS PHOTO-PACKED “STAR WARS SPECIAL,” INTRODUCING THE CREATURES AND HUMANS (AT LEAST THEY LOOK HUMAN) WHO ARE ABOUT TO TAKE THE UNIVERSE BY STORM.  FROM “PHANTOM” WE PROFILE LIAM NEESON, EWAN MCGREGOR, NATALIE PORTMAN AND 10-YEAR-OLD LLOYD, AN VISIT THE MAN WHO STARTED IT ALL, THE CREATOR, GEORGE LUCAS.

LEFT:   YODA AND SAMUEL L. JACKSON AS MACE WINDU.

ABOVE:  BOSS NASS, LEADER OF THE SWAMP-DWELLING GUNGANS.

OPPOSITE PAGE:  DARTH MAUL ( RAY PARK).

ABOVE:  NEESON WITH WATTO.

RIGHT:  JAR JAR BINKS.

FAR RIGHT:  LLOYD.

BELOW:  MARCHING BATTLE DROIDS

THE CREATOR GEORGE LUCAS RETURNS TO DIRECTING AND THE GALAXY HE DREAMED INTO EXISTENCE

BY KENNETH TURAN

“ I JUST MAKE MOVIES,” GEORGE LUCAS SAYS MATTER-OF-FACTLY.  WHICH IS A BIT LIKE BILL GATES SAYING HE DABBLES IN COMPUTER SOFTWARE.

LUCAS’S “STAR WARS” TRILOGY IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FILM SERIES EVER, SO BELOVED BY SO MANY PEOPLE THAT FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA SUGGESTED ITS THEMES BE TURNED INTO A RELIGION.  THE THREE FILMS – “STAR WARS,”  “THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK” AND “RETURN OF THE JEDI” – HAVE GROSSED MORE THAN $1.8 BILLION WORLDWIDE, NOT TO MENTION SOME $4 BILLION IN MERCHANDISING SALES.  AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 16 YEARS, MORE IS ON THE WAY.  “STAR WARS:  EPISODE 1 – THE PHANTOM MENACE,” A “STAR WARS” PREQUEL ABOUT THE CHILDHOOD OF THE DREADED DARTH VADER, TAKES PLACE A GENERATION BEFORE THE ORIGINAL FILM’S ACTION.  “PHANTOM” IS AS CLOSE TO A SUREFIRE MONEY-MAKER AS HOLLYWOOD GETS.

LUCAS, BACK AT THE HELM OF HIS WORLD.

BUT TO TALK TO LUCAS, 55, ABOUT “THE PHANTOM MENACE” IS TO UNDERSTAND THAT HIS PASSION ISN’T ABOUT MONEY.  EVEN THE SHREWDEST FINANCIAL MOVE ANY FILMMAKER EVER MADE – IN 1975, FRESH OFF THE SUCCESS OF “AMERICAN GRAFFITI,” HE ASKED FOR AND RECEIVED THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO ALL “STAR WARS” SEQUELS AND MERCHANDISING – WAS MOTIVATED BY A WRITER-DIRECTOR’S DEVOTION TO CHARACTER AND STORY.

“I WAS OPERATING THE NORMAL WAY A YOUNG DIRECTOR DOES;  FIGURING OUT WAYS OF GETTING THE NEXT PICTURE DONE.”  LUCAS REMEMBERS, “IF STAR WARS’ CAME OUT AND DIDN’T DO SO WELL, AS LOOKED VERY PROBABLE, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I COULD TAKE THE SEQUELS SOMEPLACE AND GET THEM MADE.  IT WASN’T,  ‘GEE, I’M GOING TO MAKE A TON OF MONEY AND TURN THIS INTO AN EMPIRE.’  IT WAS REALLY A WAY OF GETTING THE MOVIE DONE.”

MOREOVER, WHEN LUCAS TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW CHARACTERS AND THE ACTORS HE HAS CAST TO PLAY THEM, IT’S APPARENT HOW REAL THEY ARE TO HIM, AND HOW DETERMINED HE REMAINS TO TELL THEIR STORIES THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.  FOR THE YOUNG VERSION OF OBI-WAN KENOBI, THE AGING JEDI KNIGHT PLAYED BY SIR ALEC GUINNESS IN THE ORIGINAL STORY, LUCAS CHOSE SCOTTISH ACTOR EWAN MCGREGOR.  “I WAS IMPRESSED BY HIS CHARISMA ON-SCREEN,” THE FILMMAKER SAYS.  “HE’S THE RIGHT AGE, HE LOOKS A LITTLE LIKE ALEC AND HE’S GOT KIND OF A MISCHIEVOUS QUALITY ABOUT HIM.”

FOR MENTOR AND FELLOW JEDI QUI-GON JINN, PLAYED BY LIAM NEESON, LUCAS WAS LOOKING FOR “SOMEBODY WHO COULD SERVE AS THE CENTER OF THE PICTURE, THE WAY ALEC DID IN “STAR WARS’; SOMEBODY WHO WAS VERY SOULFUL AND WISE AND POWERFUL PHYSICALLY.  WHEN I FINALLY CAST LIAM, IT SEEMED HE WAS BORN TO PLAY THIS ROLE.  LIKE HARRISON FORD AS INDIANA JONES, HIS PERSONA FITS THE CHARACTER SO WELL, IT’S HARD TO SEPARATE THEM – HARD TO THINK OF ANYONE ELSE IN THE ROLE.”

THE PART OF THE YOUNG AMIDALA, QUEEN OF THE PLANET UNDER ATTACK, WENT TO NATALIE PORTMAN.  “I NEEDED A YOUNG WOMAN WHO COULD PLAY 14 BUT WHO HAS A LOT OF PRESENCE, WHO COULD CARRY THE WEIGHT OF A POLITICAL LEADER,” LUCAS SAYS.  “LIKE PRINCESS LEIA, SHE HAD TO BE WISE BEYOND HER YEARS, AND NATALIE HAD A LOT OF STRENGTH AND MATURITY BUT YOU COULD SEE THAT SHE WAS STILL VERY  YOUNG”

LUCAS, ON LOCATION WITH AN OLD FRIEND, R2-D2.

PERHAPS HARDEST TO FIND – LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF CANDIDATES WERE CONSIDERED – WAS THE PRETEEN ACTOR NEEDED TO PLAY ANAKIN SKYWALKER, THE FUTURE DARTH VADER, WITH THE PART FINALLY GOING TO ER VETERAN 10-YEAR-OLD JAKE LLOYD.  “IT’S HARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO HAVE A LOT OF CRAFT,” LUCAS SAYS, “SO YOU’RE LOOKING FOR TALENT, CHARISMA.  JAKE WAS SOMEBODY YOU LIKED A LOT, WHO WAS A LOT OF FUN AND VERY ALIVE.  HE WAS CHARMING AND WITTY AS A PERSON, AND THAT CARRIES THROUGH INTO HIS ROLE.

CASTING OF THE FORTHCOMING “PHANTOM” SEQUELS HAS NOT BEGUN, LUCAS SAYS, DESPITE INTERNET RUMORS TO THE CONTRARY ( THE DIRECTOR DISCOUNTS SPECULATION THAT JOSHUA JACKSON OF DAWSON’S CREEK HAS BEEN SIGNED FOR A ROLE).  “I’VE JUST STARTED TO WRITE THE NEXT SCREENPLAY, I HAVEN’T EVEN HIRED A CASTING DIRECTOR YET, AND I WON’T START CASTING UNTIL THE FALL,” LUCAS SAYS, CHUCKLING, AND ADDING THAT UNTIL RECENTLY “80 TO 85 PERCENT OF EVERYTHING ON THE INTERNET ( ABOUT THE NEW MOVIE ) WAS FALSE.”

“THE PHANTOM MENACE” COSTARS A MENAGERIE OF WHAT LUCAS CALLS “PHOTO-REALISTIC DIGITAL ACTORS” – SUCH AS COMPUTER-GENERATED CHARACTERS AS WATTO ( “ KIND OF A CRAZY JUNK DEALER” ) AND THE HELPFUL JAR JAR BINKS – WHO INTERACT ON-SCREEN WITH FLESH-AND-BLOOD FOLK.  “IT’S TWICE AS HARD TO DIRECT A DIGITAL CHARACTER,” LUCAS SAYS, “BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO DO IT TWICE.  ONCE ON THE SET, WITH THE ACTORS WHO PROVIDE VOICES PLAYING THE ROLES, ANOTHER TIME IN A LITTLE ROOM WITH A COMPUTER SOMEWHERE.”

BUT THE TECHNOLOGY IS IN LARGE PART, WHAT PROMPTED LUCA’S RETURN.  “I FINALLY REACHED A POINT WITH THE TECHNOLOGY WHERE IT COULD CREATE A FANTASY WORLD CLOSER TO WHAT MY IMAGINATION SAW.”  A DEMANDING TYPE WHO SAID HE ONLY ACHIEVED 50 PERCENT OF WHAT HE WANTED TO DO WITH “STAR WARS,” LUCAS SAYS THAT WITH THE NEW MOVIE, HE’S “ABOUT 90 PERCENT HAPPY WITH THE WAY IT TURNED OUT.”

THROUGH ACKNOWLEDGING THAT STUDIO PRESSURE MADE HIS EARLIER DIRECTING EFFORTS DIFFICULT, LUCAS SCOFFS AT THE OFT-PRINTED NOTION THAT HE WAITED SO LONG TO RETURN TO “STAR WARS” BECAUSE DIRECTING WAS NOT TO HIS TASTE.  “I DIDN’T REALLY QUIT.  I HAD OTHER THINGS TO DO,” HE EXPLAINS.  “SUCCESS KIND OF WAYLAID ME FROM DIRECTING.  I HAD REALLY NO TIME TO FOCUS, TO BE ON THE SET.”  THIS TIME AROUND, THE JOB “WAS MORE FUN BECAUSE I WAS THE STUDIO.  I DIDN’T HAVE ANYBODY BUGGING ME.  I COULD BE CREATIVELY FREE TO DO THE THINGS I WANTED TO DO.”

ONE OF THE LIFE TASKS THAT KEPT LUCAS FROM DIRECTING WAS BEING A HANDS-ON PARENT TO THREE CHILDREN:  6-YEAR-OLD JETT, 11-YEAR-OLD KATIE AND 18-YEAR-OLD AMANDA.  “THEY CAN ONLY WATCH A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TV EVERY DAY.  SOMETIMES I DOLE OUT THE PROGRAMS, AND OTHER TIMES WE WATCH SHOWS TOGETHER,” HE SAYS.  WITH HIS OLDEST DAUGHTER, HOWEVER, THINGS HAVE CHANGED.

“NCE THEY REACH THE MIDDLE OF THE TEENAGE YEARS, YOU PRETTY MUCH HAVE TO LET THEM LOOSE TO WATCH MORE OF WHAT THEY WANT TO,” LUCAS SAYS.  EVEN THE CREATOR OF A UNIVERSE, IT SEEMS, IS NO MATCH FOR A TEENAGE DAUGHTER.

KENNETH TURAN IS FILM CRITIC FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES.

NATALIE PORTMAN THE QUEEN DONS THE CROWN OF COSMIC FAME

BY FRANK DECARO

WHEN FANS SWARMED HARRISON FORD AT A MARCH LAURYN HILL CONCERT AT NEW YORK’S MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, HE LOOKED AS IF HE MIGHT NEED SOME HAN SOLO-STYLE DERRING-DO JUST TO GET TO HIS SEAT.  TO NATALIE PORTMAN, WHO WAS WATCHING UNNOTICED FROM 10 ROWS BACK, THE SCENT WAS SCARIER THAN JABBA THE HUTT’S BREATH.  “I FELT SO BAD FOR HIM,” SHE SAYS..

“HE WAS THERE WITH HIS FAMILY, AND IT WAS LIKE AN ANIMAL IN A ZOO.  THEY WERE JUST COMING UP AND TAKING PICTURES OF HIM.”  SHE MIGHT HAVE GLIMPSED INTO HER OWN FUTURE.

THE ISRAELI-BORN ACTRESS, WHO TURNS 18 NEXT MONTH, HAS HERETOFORE BEEN KNOWN FOR HER ROLES AS A HIT MAN’S 12-YEAR-OLD SIDEKICK IN LUC BESSON’S “THE PROFESSIONAL” ( HER 1994 FILM DEBUT ) AND AS THE HEART-WRENCHING TITLE CHARACTER IN “THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK” ON BROADWAY IN 1997.

BUT THAT WAS THEN.  WHEN PORTMAN HITS THE SCREEN AS THE GEISHA-FACED YOUNG QUEEN AMIDALA IN “THE PAHNTOM MENACE,” SHE WILL ENTER THE PANTHEON OF THE MOST POPULAR MYTHOLOGY OF MODERN TIMES.  IN LATER “STAR WARS” MOVIES, HER CHARACTER WILL GIVE BIRTH TO OUTER SPACE’S GREATEST BROTHER-SISTER ACT, LUKE SKYWALKER AND PRINCESS LEIA.

“I HAVEN’T HAD THEM YET,” PORTMAN COUNTERS, BUT THAT FACT WON’T LIKELY KEEP THE “STAR WARS” FANATICS FROM WORSHIPING THE GROUND SHE WALKS ON.  OR FROM BUYING HER ACTION FIGURE.

“IT’S VERY STRANGE TO KNOW THAT LITTLE KIDS SOMEWHERE WILL BE PLAYING WITH ME,” PORTMAN SAYS FROM HER FAMILY’S HOME ON NEW YORK’S LONG ISLAND.  SHE IS UNFAZED, HOWEVER, BY THE PROSPECT OF MAJOR FAME:  “I’M GOING TO BE MORE RECOGNIZABLE.  BUT THE ESSENTIALS OF MY LIFE – MY FAMILY, MY FRIENDS, MY EVERYDAY SCHEDULE – ARE NOT GOING TO BE VERY DIFFERENT,” SHE SAYS.  NOTORIOUSLY PRIVATE, THE YOUNG ACTRESS HAS DONE EVERYTHING SHE CAN TO MAKE SURE HER CAREER DOESN’T IMPINGE ON HER HOME LIFE (“PORTMAN” IS A STAGE NAME).  SO HOW COULD SHE ACCEPT ONE OF THE HIGHEST-PROFILE ROLES IN HOLLYWOOD HISTORY?

“EVERYONE HAS THESE CONFLICTING SIDES TO THEM,” PORTMAN EXPLAINS.  “ONE THAT WANTS TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT AND ONE THAT WANTS TO HIDE AWAY UNDER A ROCK.

PORTMAN, IN ROYAL REGALIA, AS QUEEN AMIDALA

WHEN YOU’RE IN THIS INDUSTRY, THERE’S A CONSTANT CONFILICT BETWEEN BEING FAMOUS AND BEING ARTSY.  I THINK IT’S INTERESTING TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER.”  SHE HAS NOTICED SOME CHANGES IN HER LIFE EVEN BEFORE THE MOVIE HAS BEEN RELEASED.  “I WAS JUST AT MY GRANDFATHER’S FUNERAL IN ISRAEL,” SHE SAYS, “AND THERE WERE DISTANT COUSINS I’D NEVER MET, AND THEY SAID, “WE KNOW YOU FROM THE MAGAZINES – YOU’RE THE FAMOUS ONE.”  IT’S JUST WEIRD.”

HAVING MOVED FROM JERUSALEM AT AGE 3 WITH HER PHYSICIAN FATHER AND HER MOTHER, A 10-YEAR-OLD PORTMAN WAS DISCOVERED BY A REVLON MODEL SCOUT INA PIZZA PARLOR NEAR HER LONG ISLAND HOME.  HER NATURAL BEAUTY AND COMPORTMENT HELPED TO LAND HER ROLES IN SUCH FILMS AS “HEAT” ( 1995 ), WITH AL PACINO, AND “MARS ATTACKS!” ( 1966 ), PLAYING JACK NICHOLSON’S DAUGHTER.  ALSO IN ’96, SHE APPEARED WITH UMA THURMAN IN “BEAUTIFUL GIRLS.”

BUT NOTHING COULD PREPARE PORTMAN FOR “PHANTOM MENACE.”  SHE EXPLAINS:  “MOST OF US HAD WORKED ON PRETTY HEAVY DRAMATIC STUFF, VERY WORDY MOVIES WITH A LOT OF DIALOGUE, SO WE THOUGHT [“PHANTOM”] WOULD BE A BREEZE, BUT IT WASN’T.  IT WAS MUCH HARDER THAN ANY OF US EXPECTED.”

DIRECTOR GEORGE LUCAS BEGAN TALKING TO PORTMAN WHEN THE ACTRESS WAS 14.  “THEY FLEW ME AND MY FAMILY OUT TO SKYWALKER RANCH, AND I GOT TO MEET GEORGE, AND HE BASICALLY TOLD ME THE STORY OF THE FILM AND ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO DO IT.”  A FEW WEEKS LATER, SHE SAID YES, AND THE ADVENTURE BEGAN.

WHILE FILMING IN THE TUNISIAN DESERT, PORTMAN FORMED AN EASY BOND WITH COSTARS LIAM NEESON AND EWAN MCGREGOR:  “YOU DON’T HAVE CLUBS OR RESTAURANTS TO GO TO, “SHE SAYS, “YOU JUST HAVE PEOPLE, SO WE HAD QUALITY FUN TIMES THERE.”

LATER, FILMING SCENES IN A PALACE OUTSIDE NAPLES, ITALY, THE CAST WASN’T SO SECLUDED.  “THERE WERE A LOT OF PAPARAZZI THERE,” PORTMAN RECALLS.  “THE PAPER ONE MORNING HAD A PICTURE OF A GIRL WITH LONG BLOND HAIR WHO HAD A NON-SPEAKING ROLE IN THE FILM.  THEY THOUGHT SHE WAS THE STAR AND PUT HER ON [THE FRONT PAGE] THAT SAID NATALIE PORTMAN GOES TO WORK.”

MORE RECENTLY, PORTMAN HAS HAD THINGS OTHER THAN WORK ON HER MIND.  AN EXCELLENT STUDENT WHO IS FLUENT IN HEBREW AND ADORES SCIENCE, SHE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED TO BOTH HARVARD AND YALE.  “I KIND OF HAD THE FEELING THAT WHETHER I DID WELL OR NOT, I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN IN,” SHE SAYS.

THE QUEEN AND HER CAPTAIN ( HUGH QUARSHIE, LEFT)

“IT WAS KIND OF DISAPPOINTING, BECAUSE I WORKED SO HARD IN SCHOOL,” SHE ADDS.  “I DON’T FEEL LIKE I GOT IN JUST BE BEING AN ACTOR.  I DON’T FEEL LIKE I STOLE A SPACE AWAY FROM SOMEONE WHO REALLY DESERVED IT.  IF FEEL LIKE I’LL BE ABLE TO LIVE UP TO THE LEVEL OF THE SCHOOL.”  WHICH SCHOOL?  “I DON’T KNOW.  I’M A CONFUSED LITTLE GIRL.”  BUT SHE WILL BE GOING TO HER HIGH-SCHOOL PROM.  “AS SOON AS YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THAT, YOU KNOW YOU’RE DOING TOO MUCH WORK.”  SHE WON’T SAY IF SHE HAS A BOYFRIEND TO TAKE HER.  “PERHAPS,” SHE ANSWERS COYLY

ONE QUESTION REMAINS:  HOW MUCH IMPACT DID THE ORIGINAL “STAR WARS” HAVE ON THE FUTURE MOTHER OF LUKE AND LIEA?  NOT AS MUCH AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT.  TRUTH BE TOLD, PORTMAN HADN’T SEEN “STAR WARS” UNTIL SHE MET LUCAS TO DISCUSS THE NEW MOVIE.  “THEY HAD IT ON IN THE ROOM AND I THOUGHT, ‘I SHOULD REALLY WATCH THIS,’” SHE SAYS.  SHE HAS SINCE SEEN ALL THREE “STAR WARS” FILMS AND ENJOYED THEM.  BUT THE MOVIE SHE LIKES BEST ISN’T A SPACE OPERA AT ALL.  “MY FAVORITE FUN MOVIE IS ‘DIRTY DANCING,’” PORTMAN ADMITS.  “THAT’S KIND OF MY ‘STAR WARS’ – THE ONE I’VE SEEN A HUNDRED TIMES AND KNOW ALL THE WORDS AND ALL THE DANCES.  I LOVE MOVIES THAT DON’T TAKE THEMSELVES TOO SERIOUSLY.”

THE PADAWAN EWAN MCGREGOR INHERITS THE SABER OF OBI-WAN KENOBI

BY HILARY DE VRIES

THE BRASH EWAN MCGREGOR, SCOTLAND’S HOTTEST EXPORT SINCE SEAN CONNERY, HAS MADE HIS FEELINGS ABOUT MAINSTREAM HOLLYWOOD VERY, VERY LEAR.  THE 28-YEAR-OLD STAR OF SUCH EDGY INDEPENDENT FILMS AS “TRAINSPOTTING” AND “VELVET GOLDMINE” ONCE SAID HE WOULD NEVER “TAINT” HIS SOUL WITH “CRAP” LIKE “INDEPENDENCE DAY.”  BUT “STAR WARS” IS, WELL, “STAR WARS.”  NO SOUL TAINTING THERE.

“I USED TO KNOW EVERY WORD IN “STAR WARS, ‘AND ME AND MY FRIENDS USED TO TAKE PARTS,” THE ACTOR, WHO LANDED THE REAL PART OF THE YOUNG PADAWAN ( OR APPRENTICE ) JEDI OBI-WAN KENOBI IN “THE PHANTOM MENACE,” HAS SAID.  AS A CHILD GROWING UP IN THE SMALL SCOTTISH TOWN OF CRIEFF, NEAR EDINBURGH, MCGREGOR AND HIS OLDER BROTHER, COLIN, STAGED MOCK FIGHTS WITH THEIR PLASTIC LIGHTSABERS, YELLING LINES FROM THE ORIGINAL “STAR WARS” FILMS.  NO WONDER, THEN, THAT MCGREGOR WAS BOWLED OVER BY THE GLEAMING R2-D2 ON “THE PHANTOM MENACE” SET:  “WHEN I FIRST MET R2-D2, I ALMOST WENT DOWN ON THE GROUND.”

THERE WAS EVEN MORE THAN THE TYPICAL SCHOOLBOY FASCINATION IN HIS DECISION TO JOIN THE THREE-FILM PREQUEL SERIES.  MCGREGOR’S UNCLE, ACTOR DENIS LAWSON (“LOCAL HERO”), PLAYED WEDGE, THE REBEL FIGHTER PILOT, IN THE ORIGINAL MOVIES.  “IT WAS THE FIRST MOVIE I EVER WENT TO SEE WITH HIM IN IT, AND I’LL NEVER FORGET HOW PROUD I WAS,” MCGREGOR SAID RECENTLY.  AT 16, HE DROPPED OUT OF THE SCHOOL WHERE HIS FATHER TAUGHT GYM AND FOLLOWED HIS UNCLE INTO ACTING.

MCGREGOR CAUGHT SOME ATTENTION IN AMERICA WHEN THE 1994 SCOTTISH FILM “SHALLOW GRAVE” DREW A SMALL BUT ENTHUSIASTIC FOLLOWING.  BUT IT WAS HIS GRITTY, REALISTIC PERFORMANCE AS A HEROIN ADDICT IN 1996’S “TRAINSPOTTING” THAT LAUNCHED THE ACTOR AS AN UP-AND-COMING INTERNATIONAL STAR.

LIGHT WORK:  MCGREGOR AS THE JEDI-IN-TRAINING

SINCE THEN, HE HAS TURNED DOWN BIG STUDIO PROJECTS TO BUILD A PURPOSEFULLY ECLECTIC RESUME WITH SMALL INDEPENDENT FILMS, IN WHICH HE HAS PLAYED EVERYTHING FROM A DRUG-ADDLED BISEXUAL ROCK STAR (“VELVET GOLDMINE”) TO A POMPOUS FOP (“EMMA”) AND A FRENCH-HORN-PLAYING COAL MINER (“BRASSED OFF”).

AS THE YOUNG OBI-WAN, MCGREGOR FACED ACTING CHALLENGES ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT FROM THOSE HE HAD PREVIOUSLY ENCOUNTERED.  FOR STARTERS, HE WAS TAKING ON A ROLE LONG ASSOCIATED WITH SIR ALEC GUINNESS, WHO PLAYED OBI-WAN KENOBI IN THE ORIGINAL MOVIES.  “I’M PLAYING THE YOUNG ALEC GUINNESS, SO I TRIED TO SOUND LIKE A YOUNG ALEC GUINESS,” MCGREGOR HAS SAID.

THEN THERE WAS THE FACT THAT IN MANY SCENES, MCGREGOR, AS THE PADAWAN JEDI, SIMPLY STOOD BY AS HIS MASTER, QUI-GON JINN (LIAM NEESON), DISPENSED JEDI WISDOM.   CONVEYING THE WARRIOR’S RAPT ATTENTION BECAME SOMETHING OF A RUNNING JOKE – MCGREGOR AND NEESON DECIDED THAT THE BEST APPROACH WAS SIMPLY A THOUGHTFUL FROWN.

THE ROLE WILL CERTAINLY BE THE SCOTSMAN’S MOST WIDELY SEEN PERFORMANCE.  “WHETHER PEOPLE REMEMBER ME FOR ONLY [OBI-WAN KENOBI] ISN’T AN ISSUE, BECAUSE I’LL KEEP DOING OTHER WORK,” MCGREGOR HAS SAID.  AFTER FILMING “PHANTOM,” HE RETURNED TO HIS ART- HOUSE ROOTS WITH A PART IN THE RECENTLY RELEASED FILM “LITTLE VOICE.”  ( HE ALSO ACTED IN A SMALL LONDON PRODUCTION, DIRECTED BY HIS UNCLE, LAWSON, OF THE PLAY “LITTLE MALCOLM AND HIS STRUGGLE AGAINST THE EUNUCHS.”)

FROM LEFT:  NEESON, R2, JAKE LLOYD, MCGREGOR

“THERE’S A BODY OF WORK BEHIND ME AND I’M NOT GOING TO STOP

MAKING THOSE FILMS,” SAID MCGREGOR, WHO LIVES IN A MODEST NORTH LONDON NEIGHBORHOOD WITH HIS WIFE, EVE, A FILM PRODUCTION DESIGNER, AND THEIR 3-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, CLARA.