rouged said:

I've read somewhere that Portman hasn't been acquainted with Star Wars prior to receiving the role of Padme. So, maybe the whole series has not been her thing, especially when many of the scenes are forced and not very natural.

Yep. I read an article(in either ent. weekly or cosmo) that she had never seen the OT and had to rent all 3 to get acquainted. She was so miserable in TPM that she took bathroom breaks in order to cry. So she really didnt want to be there. Thats on george. He should have hired an actress that knew and loved SW, an actress that wanted to throw herself into the role with passion. IMO natalie portman is extremely overrated and the measure of her talents equate that of a soap opera or one of "syfy channels original movie" roles.

Another fatal flaw was that Luca$ didnt have the story/script finished until the last minute before filming. The actors hadnt a clue what was going on, so there was minimal mental preparation. IMO the 3 keys to success in anything, are preparation, preparation, preparation. But Luca$ is a sly one. He knew he could get away with sheer laziness in the writing aspect and directing aspect, and still make $$$$, due to the power and amazing success of the OOT. The whole world was waiting with insane anticipation, to find out the origin of Vader. Heck, there's a bit on the making of TPM, where george and co. are discussing the possibility of surpassing "titanic" in domestic and worldwide gross.