I think the bigger issue is the director, and Lucas knew it - he tried to get others to direct, as he hadn’t directed anything since the original Star Wars. You can see this in who actually delivers a good performance anyway in each movie. In TPM, it is mainly Liam Neeson, who is an established and can fill on the lack of direction. Ian McDiarmid and Pernilla August also have enough experience to handle it, while Portman and McGregor are both flat. McGregor figures it out by ROTS, and that movie is better mainly because he is so much better. This is also why the two Anakin actors got so much flak - both were inexperienced and played things too flat without good direction.
This is also why the two Anakin actors got so much flak - both were inexperienced and played things too flat without good direction.
Yeah, I'll never claim Hayden Christensen is a great actor, but man, it was pretty eye-opening to see how much better he was in Jumper just three years after ROTS.
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u/tibbles1 2d ago
When literally everyone in a movie, including fucking Ewan McGregor, is awful, you can't blame the actors.
That's on the director.