Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace Cast: Where Are They Now?
Though the prequel film takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, see what Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson and more ‘Phantom Menace’ stars are up to today
Star Wars fans rejoiced on May 19, 1999.
On this day, George Lucas’ intergalactic epic Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace premiered, bringing a brand new installment of the Skywalker saga to theaters for the first time since 1983’s Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi.
Set 32 years before the original trilogy, the film introduced a Force-sensitive child named Anakin Skywalker, who audiences already knew would one day become Darth Vader — this was finally their chance to see how.
Even after all this time, the blockbuster remains among the highest-grossing films (earning more than $1 billion at the global box office) and helped make Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and Samuel L. Jackson household names.
Here’s what the Phantom Menace cast is doing now since the film’s May 1999 debut.
01 Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn
Several years after appearing in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993) and earning his first Oscar nomination for depicting Oskar Schindler, Liam Neeson starred as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace. The Star Wars film followed his character as he and his mentee, Obi-Wan Kenobi, came across a young Anakin Skywalker while they were serving as protection for 14-year-old Queen Padmé Amidala.
Even after his on-screen turn as Qui-Gon — which he later voiced in several Star Wars projects, including Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Tales of the Jedi — it wouldn’t be the last fans would see of the Jedi Master.
Despite Neeson’s doubts about Star Wars’ fading appeal, when asked if he’d consider reprising the part in a spinoff, the Irish actor told Collider in 2021, “I’d be up for that!” In 2022, he answered fans’ prayers by making a cameo as the beloved character on the series finale of Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Beyond his Star Wars role, Neeson has starred in films like Love Actually (2003), Taken (2008), The A-Team (2010), Memory (2022) and In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2023).
Neeson dated fellow actress Helen Mirren from 1980 to 1985 before meeting his future wife, Natasha Richardson, in 1994. Together, they had two sons before she died from a skiing accident in 2009.
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
McGregor played Qui-Gon’s apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was left in charge of Anakin’s training after Qui-Gon’s death at the end of the film. And the rest, as they say, is history.
McGregor went on to star in the remaining films of the prequel trilogy and reprised the part in the Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022. He also appeared in projects unrelated to Star Wars, such as Moulin Rouge! (2001), Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011) and Raymond & Ray (2022). On TV, McGregor has had roles on series like Fargo; Halston, which earned him an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie; and A Gentleman in Moscow.
Despite the subpar reviews Phantom Menace received upon its 1999 premiere, the Scottish actor has never regretted taking on the role he inherited from Alec Guinness. “I am happy that I am this character for a lot of people,” McGregor told Variety in a January 2024 interview, wherein he also spoke hopefully of continuing his character’s story on Obi-Wan Kenobi. “I would love to do the second season, but there’s no talk of it yet. There is a lot going on at Disney,” he said.
For 22 years, McGregor was married to Eve Mavrakis — with whom he shares four kids — before they divorced in 2020. He began dating fellow actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2017, and they welcomed their first child in 2021. The couple wed in April 2022.
Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker
Following turns in the 1996 films Unhook the Stars and Jingle All the Way, Jake Lloyd brought to life the role of Anakin Skywalker, who was destined to become the fearsome villain Darth Vader in later films.
Lloyd appeared in the 2001 film Madison and even worked behind the scenes on the short Peer Pressure (2009) before leaving Hollywood for good. In March 2015, the former child was reported for allegedly assaulting his mother and arrested for reckless driving that June. Five years later, his family released a statement to Geek News Now saying that Lloyd was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
In a March 2024 interview with Scripp News, his mother, Lisa Lloyd, revealed he had been 10 months into an 18-month stay at a mental health rehabilitation center. Although Lloyd’s paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis “totally threw him off into an even worse depression,” Lisa told the outlet he’s “doing much better than I expected” and is “becoming a little bit more social.”
Even decades later, Lloyd is still very much a Star Wars fan. “He loves all the new Star Wars stuff,” Lisa said. “People think Jake hates Star Wars. He loves it.”
Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala
Portman gave life — and moxie — to the teenage queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, who sought to protect her people from enemies arising in the galaxy.
Portman reprised her role in the next two Star Wars prequels. And although the actress has had roles in multiple critically acclaimed films — including Marvel’s Thor film series, Jackie (2016), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and May December (2023) — she has said she wouldn’t mind exploring that galaxy far, far away again.
She expressed as much in 2023 when answering a fan question for GQ about her reviving Padmé, to which she replied, “No one’s ever asked me to return, but I’m open to it.”
Apart from her Star Wars stardom, Portman has been nominated for several Oscars, and in 2010, she won Best Actress for Black Swan (2010).
While filming the drama, Portman met her future husband and the film’s choreographer, Benjamin Millepied, with whom she shares two children, Amalia and Aleph. In July 2023, the couple quietly filed to dissolve their marriage after reports of Millepied’s alleged infidelity surfaced two months prior. They finalized their divorce in February 2024.
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
After previously playing the character in George Lucas’ original trilogy released in the ’70s and ’80s, Anthony Daniels reprised his role as the intelligent droid fluent in over 6 million forms of communications, C-3PO.
Daniels has continued to work as C-3PO on Star Wars projects, including the sequel trilogy beginning with Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015) and ending with The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He also released a 2019 memoir about his role, titled I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story.
Although Daniels fondly owns the distinction as the only actor to appear in all 9 of the Skywalker saga films (as well as 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story), he never quite got used to wearing the gold-plated suit that made him a star. “It was just awful, and it broke immediately, it was very fragile,” he told Role Recall in a 2020 interview. “And, of course, in the making [of the film], I would stand there covered in this fiberglass stuff, and the itching afterward was horrific.”
The actor has been married to film writer Christine Savage since 1999.
Kenny Baker as R2-D2
Kenny Baker was the original actor to portray the beloved droid R2-D2. He reprised his role for The Phantom Menace and the rest of the prequels.
Baker returned to the Star Wars universe as an R2 consultant for The Force Awakens in 2015. He died at 81 the following year and is survived by his two children, whom he had with his late wife, Eileen Baker.
Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
Jackson had already appeared in films like Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989), Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) before starring as Jedi Master Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Since then, he’s worked on a myriad of Hollywood hits, including The Hateful Eight (2015), Kong: Skull Island (2017) and more than a dozen Marvel projects as Nick Fury, including his own 2023 Disney+ spinoff series, Secret Invasion.
Although his character’s death scene in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005) seemed to seal his fate in the franchise, Jackson insisted there’s still a future for Mace Windu, telling Empire in February 2024, “HE’S NOT DEAD!!!” Furthermore, when asked whether he’d be interested in returning to play the Jedi Master in a Disney+-esque spinoff of his own, the actor enthusiastically said, “EVERYTHING YES!!”
Jackson has been married to actress-director LaTanya Richardson since 1980. They welcomed their daughter, Zoe, two years later.
Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine
Ian McDiarmid was first cast as Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. He returned to the character, also known as Darth Sidious, for the prequel trilogy.
McDiarmid later returned to Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker and on the Disney+ miniseries Obi Wan-Kenobi, as well as lent his voice for the character in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks
Ahmed Best portrayed the Gungan Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace and voiced the character in the next two prequel films, several animated series and TV movies, as well as video games.
Following his turn as Jar Jar, Best appeared on TV shows such as Alias, Cougar Town, Big Time Rush and Law & Order: LA.
In 2018, Best revealed in a since-deleted tweet that public criticism of his Star Wars character made him contemplate ending his life. However, he credited his son — whom he shares with wife Raquel Horsford — as his “gift for survival.”
Best returned to Star Wars in 2020, voicing (human) Jedi Master Kelleran Beq on Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. He played the live-action version of this character in 2023 in season 3 of Disney+’s The Mandalorian.
Leading up to Phantom Menace’s 25th anniversary in 2024, the actor told PEOPLE that he hopes Jar Jar — whose role has been seemingly diminished in later Star Wars projects — will receive a proper ending to his story in a future project.
“There was this one piece of Star Wars literature where Jar Jar ended up being this homeless clown in the streets begging for money or something like that. And I was like, ‘I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s Jar Jar’s fate,’ ” Best said. “Jar Jar was spectacularly clumsy and failed upward. He was just a wonderful character that always found a way to succeed. And I would love to know Jar Jar’s fate from there, even if it’s a scene that closes it.”
