Did they replace Kiera’s voice with Natalie’s? That is a good question. I’ll see if I can find any info on that.
And you’re right, it is even higher-pitched in the trailer. But see, I like that. It definitely makes Anakin and Padmé feel closer in age, and I think it makes her at least somewhat more sympathetic. I definitely would want to reimplement her actual voice pitch for any future fan edit I might do.
Honestly, I feel if you were to improve Padmé’s character arcs in 2 and 3, she would be a clear main character of the films, at least alongside Anakin. Maybe they both would be comparable to how Rey and Kylo Ren are dual main characters of the ST.
It’s incredibly unfortunate how she’s handled (probably second only to Anakin in terms of PT character fuck ups). The entire plot of TPM revolves around her and she’s in the majority of the scenes, but there’s next to no interiority there. There’s a lot more understanding of who she is AOTC but we still miss out on fundamental aspects of her character (her opposition to the creation of the army) and her main arc in the film (coming to love Anakin) is downright terrible. Then obviously a lot has been said about her being little more than a plot device in ROTS.
It’s especially unfortunate considering how Portman has proven after these films to be one of the best actresses of her generation. At the beginning of the doc “The Beginning,” Lucas comments on how she’s making a decision to be in three films over the next half a decade or so without looking at a word of any script. Kinda makes me feel bad for her, I mean who wouldn’t have done that considering the quality and success of the OT, but who would have guessed that she’d be so shortchanged by the material.