While many remember Keira Knightley for her iconic roles in Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride & Prejudice, and Atonement, one could say her Star Wars role was often overlooked.
Knightley’s first big break was actually by starring in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace where she played one of the royal handmaidens of Naboo named Sabe who was assigned to Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman).
“I mean, I was 12. I literally don’t remember…” Knightley said in an interview with Total Film (via GamesRadar).
One thing’s for sure, though, she does recall how uncomfortable the costume she had to wear for the part: “I remember the headdress being so heavy, it gave me a headache.”
Not to mention, almost falling asleep while playing the background character while filming on set, “I was just sitting in a chair and I was in the background, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. But apart from that, I don’t remember anything else about it.”
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Knightley merely had a small part to play in the franchise, however, surely, this must have remained memorable as a start-up in the actress’ career. It certainly did for Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill.
Since she was gone, the Star Wars universe has expanded tremendously, what with the extension of the sequel trilogy films, and the MandoVerse, to name a few.
One of the franchise’s filmmakers, Dave Filoni, previously claimed that longtime fans and incoming fans need no debates over what’s canon and what’s not in the franchise.
Filoni pointed out that this is due to the fact that the franchise is ever-evolving, and the whole message of what George Lucas left was to ‘tell a good story’ and ‘create great characters.’
However, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has recently been reported to shelf Luke Skywalker, the most iconic character that comes to mind when people hear Star Wars.
It would seem that in spite of Luke’s strong presence in the recent MandoVerse shows, Lucasfilim appears to be done with the character altogether.
It remains to be seen where the legacy characters could still find themselves starring in the unfolding universe.
Meanwhile, you can catch all your favorite Star Wars films and series streaming on Disney+.