TV's Frink said:
Judging her solely on her TPM performance is like...
I'll admit to not being terribly familiar with her work.
Regarding the character of Padme; I found her so poorly created\written\performed that she has now become my litmus test for possible EU.
If I'm pondering an EU read, I go to Wookiepedia and look under the characters portion of the title. If Padme exists at all in the world of the novel, I pass. Irrational maybe, but I dislike the character that much.
So far, it looks like I'm ok on at least four more Zahn novels.