Natalie Portman & Hayden Christensen Discuss 'Star Wars' Concerns Ahead of Saga's 25th Anniversary

Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman took on two of the most iconic roles in the Star Wars prequel movies.

Natalie brought Padmé Amidala to life starting in 1999′s The Phantom Menace, while Hayden was brought on to play Anakin Skywalker starting with 2002′s Attack of the Clones. His character’s descent into the Dark Side let to him becoming Darth Vader and set the scene for the original trio of movies.

In a forthcoming feature celebrating the 25th anniversary of Phantom Menace, the former costars looked back on the pressure of joining such an iconic franchise and opened up about how it affected their careers.

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“The scope of the opportunity — the enormity of it all — was exciting to me. It was obviously a little daunting too, but there’s a saying: ‘Pressure is privilege’. I just felt very lucky to have it,” Hayden told Empire.

He added that he was “really thrilled” to have such an exciting story to play.

Meanwhile, Natalie explained that she had fears of her own: “I was worried about doing it, that I wouldn’t be able to do anything else after, because the series carries such a mythology in American life,” she admitted.

“But that was precisely why it was such an incredible opportunity,” she continued. “It bridged my career from a child to an adult.”

Another actor from the trilogy recently admitted that they were “very reluctant” to accept their role.

If you missed it, we rounded up 13 actors who competed with Hayden to play Anakin. The list includes an Oscar winner, who reportedly turned the part down.