Keira Knightley Was Never Told About Her Real Role In Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
A fun piece of trivia you'll often hear about "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" is that Keira Knightley played Queen Padmé Amidala's handmaiden, Sabé. The character was notable because of how much she looked like Padmé; it allowed her to be easily disguised as the Queen during risky trips into enemy territory. Sabé's job was basically to make sure that if anyone tried to assassinate the real Queen, they'd kill her instead; it's not the best job in the world, but we're sure it pays well.
At the time, Knightley's involvement in the film wasn't noteworthy. It would be another two years before she starred in "Prince of Thieves," and another two years before she got her breakout role in "Pirates of the Caribbean." Back in 1999, she was an unknown actress playing a bit part, notable only in that she looked like Natalie Portman if you put them in the same makeup and outfit. Much like Lada Gaga's early pre-fame appearance in "The Sopranos," Knightley's role in the "Star Wars" franchise is only really notable because of things that happened outside the series. As Knightley herself put it in a 2004 interview, "I was basically an extra. I can't even remember George Lucas talking to me."
For such a minor role, however, there was a surprising amount of covertness involved. Knightley had to sign a "secrecy agreement" and she was only given her part of the script on the day of filming. As she explained:
"I didn't realize what I was doing until the last day of shooting when somebody said, 'She's a decoy,' and I was like, 'Oh, am I? That's what I was supposed to do?' Nobody had told me."
Portman and Knightley: not that similar
The "Star Wars" prequels were often criticized for their wooden acting, and maybe part of that had to do with Lucas' decision to deny actors their scripts until shortly before they had to perform. Whatever the case, "The Phantom Menace" was very much not Knightley's breakout role. Both she and Portman spoke in a strangely monotone voice, and the entire decoy storyline was admittedly more confusing than it was exciting.
The role did get Knightley's foot in the door, with bigger and better roles to come, but it also meant she spent her early career being known (to at least some extent) as Discount Natalie Portman. It seemed to bother her slightly in the early 2000s, as Knightley was quick to point out that the two don't actually look that much alike. "We both have brown hair and brown eyes," she said, "I can safely say that's where the similarities end."
Luckily, Knightley had plenty of opportunities to prove her acting chops, with emotional lead performances in films like "Pride & Prejudice" and "Never Let Me Go." As more time goes by, the clearer it gets that Knightly and Portman are very much separate performers with different skill sets. Knightley may have seemed like a copy of Portman back in "The Phantom Menace," but her career over the past 25 years has definitely been its own unique thing.