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Padmé Amidala is a fictional character in George Lucas's Star Wars saga. She was portrayed by Natalie Portman. She first appeared on film in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) as the young queen of the planet Naboo. In subsequent prequel trilogy films, Padmé represents Naboo in the Galactic Senate. She is featured in the animated miniseries Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003–2005) and in ''Star Wars'' literature. Padmé is the secret wife of Anakin Skywalker and mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa.
Born in a mountain village on Naboo 46 years before the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Padmé Naberrie is known successively by her regnal name as Queen Amidala and Senator Amidala. She is a key politician in the Galactic Republic who holds to the principles of democracy and rule of law. As an opponent of militarism, she attracts many enemies during the turbulent Separatist crisis and Clone Wars, which lead to the creation of the Galactic Empire.
Initial drafts of Star Wars written by Lucas in the 1970s do not explain the role which the mother of Luke and Leia plays in the saga. Vague references are made to her in (1983), but the character was not fully realized until the prequel trilogy of films that debuted between 1999 and 2005. An elaborate wardrobe was tailored for the character by costume designer Trisha Biggar.
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Appearances
As a principal character in Star Wars, Padmé Amidala plays a prominent role in the prequel films directed by Lucas. Apart from the films, she appears in the Expanded Universe where her role in the Star Wars galaxy outside the films is explained. Padmé is the main protagonist of two Star Wars books.
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Star Wars films
The mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa is first alluded to in the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, but she is not named. While in the Ewok village on the forest moon of Endor, Luke (Mark Hamill) informs Leia (Carrie Fisher) that she is his sister and that the Sith Lord Darth Vader is their father. When asked if she remembers her "real mother", Leia says that she recalls "images" and "feelings" of her. Leia explains, "She died when I was very young. ... She was beautiful. Kind ... but sad." Luke confesses that he has no memories of her and the discussion ends as he leaves the village to confront Darth Vader.[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Special Edition (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2005), disc 1.]
Padmé Amidala's first appearance on film was in the 1999 prequel The Phantom Menace, set 32 years before the events of A New Hope. Padmé is the 14-year-old democratically elected Queen of Naboo and her planet is under occupation by the Trade Federation. Padmé escapes with the help of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), but they are forced to land on the desert planet of Tatooine. Padmé — disguised as a handmaiden — meets nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) and his mother Shmi (Pernilla August). She witnesses Anakin win his first pod race at the Boonta Eve Classic and secure his freedom.[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 1999), disc 1.]
Arriving on Coruscant, Padmé consults with Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who encourages her to appeal to the Galactic Senate to resolve Naboo's dispute with the Trade Federation. He persuades her to make a motion in the Senate to have Chancellor Finis Valorum (Terence Stamp) removed from office; Palpatine is elected in his place. She is unaware that Palpatine is a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious who is manipulating the Trade Federation. Padmé returns to Naboo and defeats the Trade Federation's droid army in battle with the help of the Gungan army and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, though Qui-Gon is killed in the battle against Sidious' apprentice, Darth Maul, who is then killed in return by Obi-Wan.[ ]
Padmé Amidala's second film appearance is in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), set a decade after The Phantom Menace. She represents her homeland, Naboo, in the Galactic Senate and leads a faction opposed to the Military Creation Act. While the galaxy is threatened by a growing Separatist movement, Padmé is a target for assassins hired by the Trade Federation. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) — now Obi-Wan Kenobi's padawan — is assigned to protect her despite her protestations. Padmé is sent into hiding on Naboo by Chancellor Palpatine where she and Anakin struggle to maintain a professional relationship, despite their obvious feelings for each other.
When Anakin has a horrific vision of his mother's death, Padmé accompanies him to Tatooine in a failed attempt to rescue her. By the time Anakin finds her, however, Shmi has been tortured to death by Tusken Raiders. When he returns, he confesses to Padmé that he slaughtered the entire tribe. Padmé is troubled by what he has done, but forgives him. They then receive a message from Obi-Wan who has been captured by Separatist leader Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) on the planet Geonosis. Padmé and Anakin rush to his aid only to be captured themselves and condemned to death in a Geonosian coliseum. They declare their love to each other and are saved at the last minute by Jedi Masters Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and Yoda (Frank Oz), along with an army of Jedi and clone troopers. This event marks the first battle of the Clone Wars. After the battle, Padmé and Anakin are married in a secret ceremony on Naboo witnessed by R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).
Padmé Amidala's final appearance on film is in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), set three years after the events of Attack of the Clones. After the Battle of Coruscant, she informs Anakin that she is pregnant. Padmé watches with increasing suspicion as Chancellor Palpatine becomes a dictator, using the Clone Wars to amass emergency powers and gain control over the Senate and judiciary. Padmé later witnesses Palpatine transform the Republic into the Galactic Empire and proclaiming himself Emperor. As the Senate cheers for Palpatine, she comments to Senetor Organa, "So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause."[Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2005), disc 1.]
Meanwhile, Padmé detects changes in Anakin after he has dreams about her dying in childbirth. Although she is dismissive of his visions, Anakin's fear for her leads to his conversion to the dark side and transformation into Darth Vader. Palpatine seduces Anakin by promising him the power to prevent Padmé's death. She travels to the volcanic planet Mustafar with Obi-Wan stowed on board her ship to learn if Anakin turned to the dark side. She confronts him just before Obi-Wan emerges from the ship. Anakin uses the Force to choke Padmé, thinking she betrayed him.
After Obi-Wan defeats Anakin in the ensuing lightsaber duel, he brings Padmé to Polis Massa, a secret asteroid base. Despite the efforts of medical droids, Padmé dies after giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. Before her death, she tells Obi-Wan, "There's good in him. I know ... I know there's still ...." Padmé's body is returned to Naboo and given an elaborate funeral ceremony. The twins are hidden from the Emperor and their father because if Anakin was to have any offspring they would be a threat to the galaxy if turned to the dark side; Luke is brought to Tatooine to be raised by Anakin's stepfamily, Owen and Beru Lars (Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Maree Piesse), and Leia is adopted by Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) of Alderaan and raised as a princess.
Some scenes featuring Padmé Amidala were deleted from the prequel films. In Attack of the Clones, she introduces Anakin to her parents, Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie, and informs him of her charitable work with the Refugee Relief Movement, a galactic-wide disaster relief and resettlement organization.[Deleted Scenes, Bonus Materials, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2002), disc 2.] In Revenge of the Sith, Padmé is seen as a dissenter in Palpatine's government during the Clone Wars and a constituting member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, later known as the Rebel Alliance, along with senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), and others.[Deleted Scenes, Bonus Materials, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2005), disc 2.]
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Clone Wars miniseries
Padmé Amidala appears in seven chapters of Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars, an animated series set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith that aired on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2005. The character was voiced by Grey DeLisle. In the series, Padmé is secluded on Coruscant and maintains a correspondence with her secret husband Anakin Skywalker, who is fighting in the Clone Wars, while avoiding assassins hired by Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. She worries about Anakin's safety despite the assassination threats, but is thrilled by his victories and graduation from Padawan to Jedi.
In one chapter, Padmé travels with Yoda aboard her ship when the Jedi Master senses a disturbance in the Force coming from the ice planet Ilum. Despite the protests of her security officer Captain Typho, she accompanies Yoda to the world and helps rescue the Jedi Luminara Unduli and her Padawan Barriss Offee. In the Clone Wars, Padmé is a source of diplomacy in the waning Republic. During the Outer Rim sieges, she and Typho travel to the planet of Bri'ahl to persuade the natives to join the Republic's fight against the Separatists.
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Star Wars literature
The first appearance of Padmé Amidala in Star Wars Expanded Universe literature is Mike Baron's 1998 comic book adaptation of Timothy Zahn's novel The Last Command (1993). Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the comic features a portrait of Padmé hanging in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. The portrait has nothing to do with the plot, but is an Easter egg in the background scenery. The comic adaptation was released a year before the premier of The Phantom Menace. The image is based on Natalie Portman's likeness.
Padmé's background prior to her appearance in the prequel films is revealed in Star Wars novels and comics. In Terry Moore's comic "A Summer's Dream" printed in Star Wars Tales 5 (2000) and set a year before the events of The Phantom Menace, Padmé is the Princess of Theed, Naboo's capital city. This is a position similar to mayor. A young man named Ian Lago falls in love with Padmé, but she places her duty to the people over her personal happiness and rejects him. Lago is the son of an advisor to King Veruna, the reigning monarch of Naboo.
In the novel Cloak of Deception (2001) by James Luceno, King Veruna is forced to abdicate the throne following accusations of corruption. Padmé is elected Queen of Naboo and contacts Senator Palpatine to inform him that Veruna had been mysteriously killed. Palpatine and Amidala discuss the events that lead to the Trade Federation blockade of Naboo. She admits to him, "Naboo can scarcely afford to become embroiled in a dispute that pits the Republic against the Trade Federation."
Star Wars literature focuses on Padmé's career as ruling monarch of Naboo. The young adult novel (1999) by Jude Watson focuses on Padmé Amidala's early career as queen and narrow escape from the Trade Federation. Another book, The Queen's Amulet (1999) by Julianne Balmain narrates the close frienship between Amidala and her handmaiden Sabé immediately before the events of The Phantom Menace. Erik Tiemens's comic "The Artist of Naboo" details the story of a young, unnamed artist on Naboo who becomes captivated by Padmé's beauty. The artist features her in a series of paintings and later risks his life to save her. The comic was printed in Star Wars: Visionaries (2005) by Dark Horse Comics.
Padmé's role in the Delegation of 2000 — the senatorial resistance movement to Palpatine's growing absolutism — is discussed in Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil (2005). The Delegation of 2000 is primarily concerned with Palpatine's calls for public surveillance and restrictions on freedom of movement and action. Still, Padmé is confident that Palpatine will relinquish his power when the crises is over: "He's not stubborn," she tells Bail Organa. "You just don't know him as I do. He'll take our concerns to heart."
The novelizations of the Star Wars prequel films introduced material about Padmé Amidala that was not included in the films. Terry Brooks' The Phantom Menace (1999) includes a discussion between Qui-Gonn Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui-Gonn describes the Queen of Naboo as "something of an unknown" before the Trade Federation blockade. In the Attack of the Clones (2002) adaptation by R. A. Salvatore, there is a detailed conversation between Padmé and her sister Sola Naberrie shortly after Queen Jamillia appoints her senator. Sola chides her for ignoring her personal life: "What about Padmé Amidala? Have you even thought about what might make your life better?" Matthew Stover's Revenge of the Sith (2005) elaborates upon Padmé's role in the formation of the Rebel Alliance. Stover narrates Darth Vader's reaction to the death of his wife. Vader thinks to himself, "You killed her because, finally, when you could have saved her, when you could have gone away with her, when you could have been thinking about her, you were thinking about yourself ..."
Padmé appears in novels and comics set after the events of the original trilogy as holograms and flashbacks. In Troy Denning's The Joiner King (2005), book one of the Dark Nest Trilogy and set 35 years after the events of A New Hope, Luke Skywalker discovers a 54-year-old hologram recorded by R2-D2. The image is of Anakin Skywalker informing Padmé of his vision of her death in childbirth. This is the first time Luke sees his mother. Another hologram discovered in R2-D2 chronicles a conversation between Padmé and Obi-Wan. Luke and Leia hear their mother's name for the first time and it "shot an electric bolt of excitement through" them.
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Characteristics
Padmé Amidala is depicted in Star Wars fiction as beautiful and graceful. In Cloak of Deception, she is described as having "a slight figure and a lovely, feminine face. She was remarkably solemn for one so young. It was clear that she took her responsibilities with the utmost seriousness."[Luceno, Cloak of Deception, p. 321.] Terry Brooks details the alien Nute Gunray's reaction to her appearance: "She was considered beautiful, Gunray had been told, but he had no sense of human beauty and by Neimoidian standards she was simply colorless and small-featured."[Brooks, The Phantom Menace, p. 83.] Still, Brooks writes that she is "young, beautiful, and serene."[Brooks, The Phantom Menace, p. 36.]
The Star Wars Databank describes her as "one of Naboo's best and brightest"[ and "interested in public service".][ She demonstrates a devotion to the disadvantaged and deprived beings of the galaxy. Her childhood and adolescence is sacrificed to public service. In the Attack of the Clones novelization, Padmé's sister Sola Naberrie tells her, "You're so tied up in your responsibilities that you don't give any weight to your desires."][Salvatore, Attack of the Clones, p. 176.]
Padmé relies on diplomacy to resolve disputes, often appearing as a pacifist. She is not, however, an advocate of appeasement as she exhibits a willingness to use "aggressive negotiations" to preserve democracy.[Salvatore, Attack of the Clones, p. 319.] The Star Wars Databank notes, "Despite her initial objections to a Republic army, Padmé nonetheless fought alongside the newly created clone troopers against the Separatist droid forces."[ Film critics Dominique Mainon and James Ursini classify her as a "modern Amazon", a reference to the warrior women of ancient Greek mythology.][Dominique Mainon and James Ursini, The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen (Pompton Plains, N.J.: Hal Leonard, 2006), p. 199, ISBN 0879103272.]
As a ruler and politician, Padmé is distrustful of bureaucracy, opposed to corruption, and attached to the ideals of democracy and the rule of law. She tells Anakin Skywalker, "Popular rule is not democracy .... It gives the people what they want, not what they need."[Salvatore, Attack of the Clones, p. 144.] According to Mainon and Ursini, "she tried to preach compromise and reason, but the disarray within the Republic ... led her to doubt the senate's effectiveness."[ Her loyalty remains with the Republic until she suspects that it no longer represents the democratic principles she espouses. Padmé advises Senator Bail Organa and Mon Mothma, "Be good little Senators. Mind your manners and keep your heads down. And keep doing ... all those things we can't talk about."][Stover, Revenge of the Sith, p. 401.]
While often portrayed as a reputable figure, Padmé is sometimes mysterious and deceptive. She is described in Brooks' The Phantom Menace novelization as a "chameleon of sorts, masking herself to the world at large and finding companionship almost exclusively with a cadre of handmaidens who were always with her." [Brooks, The Phantom Menace, p. 28-29.] Her concession to quietly marry Anakin Skywalker and secret discussions with other senators about Palpatine add to the character's duplicity.[ Paul F. McDonald of Space.com observes, "Amidala ... embodies many of the dualities that inform Episode I—war and peace, queen and commoner, form and substance. Unlike other characters, whose personalities are divided and usually warring against one another, her dual nature works to her advantage." He explains, "Amidala can be cold and commanding when she needs to be, or warm and loving as Padmé."][ Paul F. McDonald, "Amidala: The Goddess With Two Faces," at Space.com; last accessed August 5, 2006.]
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Concept and creation
Padmé Amidala was first mentioned in Return of the Jedi (1983) as the mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa. The character, however, went unnamed until George Lucas' 1999 film The Phantom Menace. Padmé was portrayed on film by actress Natalie Portman. An extensive wardrobe collection was designed for the character by Lucasfilm concept artists and costume designers.
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Character creation
In initial drafts of the Star Wars story, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia's mother was not well developed. According to Dale Pollock, Luke Skywalker was originally Luke Starkiller and "Leia is the daughter of Owen Lars and his wife Beru and seems to be Luke's cousin—together they visit the grave of his mother, who perished with his father on a planet destroyed by the Death Star.
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Natalie Portman
George Lucas, Rick McCallum, and casting director Robin Gurland auditioned over two hundred actresses for the part of Padmé Amidala.
In The Phantom Menace, Portman had to portray a character younger than she was herself. In Attack of the Clones, however, her character had aged ten years. Portman had aged only three years between the two films. She remarks, "Lucas wants to make sure I seem older than Anakin in ''Attack of the Clones'', so it's believable that I can be bossing him around, and he's a little intimidated. She looks at him as a little boy—at least for the first half of the film."
Portman signed a contract to play the role of Padmé in the three prequel films. Reactions by critics to her performances were mixed. James Berardinelli called her acting in The Phantom Menace "effective," but Annlee Ellingson of Box Office Magazine said "Portman's delivery is stiff and flat, perhaps hindered by the gorgeous but cumbersome costumes." Mike Clark of USA Today complained about Portman and Hayden Christensen, claiming, "Both speak in monotone for doubly deadly effect, though when not burdened by his co-star, Christensen often finds the emotion in his limited intonations." A Revenge of the Sith reviewer for The Village Voice accused "computer-generated characters like wheezing cyborg baddie General Grievous and blippeting fireplug R2-D2" of "emoting more convincingly than either Natalie Portman or Hayden Christensen." Nonetheless, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described Portman's performance in the third episode as "decorative and sympathetic".
Critics have blamed Portman's performance on Lucas's direction and script. Roger Ebert, for example, charged that in Attack of the Clones "too much of ... the film is given over to a romance between Padme and Anakin in which they're incapable of uttering anything other than the most basic and weary romantic clichés, while regarding each other as if love was something to be endured rather than cherished." He offered a similar critique for Revenge of the Sith: "To say that George Lucas cannot write a love scene is an understatement; greeting cards have expressed more passion."
Todd McCarthy of Variety likewise lamented that "Lucas's shortcomings as a writer and director of intimate, one-on-one scenes" hampered Portman's performance.
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Costumes
Padmé Amidala's wardrobe in The Phantom Menace was designed by concept artist Iain McCaig and costume designer Trisha Biggar; concept artist Dermot Power joined McCaig and Biggar in the design process of Attack of the Clones.
Aesthetics aside, the wardrobe was designed to reflect key plot developments. In Attack of the Clones, Lucas wanted Padmé's wardrobe to mirror the romantic elements of the film. He suggested that her costumes be more "sultry in nature." Trisha Biggar notes that Lucas wanted her to appear "sexy, gorgeous, and young in skimpy clothes." Portman laughs, "I got over the hump of 18 so I'm allowed to show tummy now, I guess." For Revenge of the Sith, Biggar says, "We knew that Padmé was going to be pregnant through the whole film, and nobody in the outside world could know that. Because she's pregnant, I wanted a soft quality to be apparent in the fabrics that were used."
Some of the costumes created by Biggar's staff did not appear in the final version of the films. In Revenge of the Sith, for example, a multi-colored "Peacock Gown" and a "Green Cut Velvet Robe" worn by Padmé in scenes featuring the Delegation of 2000 were deleted during post-production. Biggars remarks that the Peacock Gown had been one of her favorite designs and that much time and money had been invested in these particular costumes.
Many of Padmé's costumes in The Phantom Menace were featured in the Japanese magazine High Fashion and Vogue in 1999. The costumes were on display in the 2005 exhibit Dressing A Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles. Trisha Biggar won a Saturn Award for Best Costumes in 2000 for The Phantom Menace and in 2003 for Attack of the Clones. She was nominated in 2006 for Revenge of the Sith, but lost to Isis Mussenden, costume designer for (2005).
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Gallery
Image:MongolianRoyalty.jpg|Traditional Mongolian royal fashion
Image:AmidalaConceptArt.jpg|Senate Gown inspired by Mongolian fashion
Image:Xenia.jpg|Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia
Image:RefugeePadme.jpg|Travel Gown inspired by Russian fashion
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Notes
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Further reading
Biggar, Trisha. Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005. ISBN 0810965674.
Hanson, Michael J., and Max S. Kay. Star Wars: The New Myth. Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2002. ISBN 1401039898.
Luceno, James. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary. New York: DK Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0756611288.
Reynolds, David West. Star Wars Episode I: The Visual Dictionary. New York: DK Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0789447010.
Reynolds, David West. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary. New York: DK Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0789485885.
Wallace, Daniel. The New Essential Guide to Characters. New York: Del Rey, 2002. ISBN 0345449002.
Wallace, Daniel. "Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:24." Star Wars Insider 84 (September 2005).
Wallace, Daniel. "Who's Who in the Delegation of 2000." Star Wars Insider 85 (November 2005).
Wallace, Daniel, and Kevin J. Anderson. The New Essential Chronology. New York: Del Rey, 2005. ISBN 0345490533.
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