THEN AND NOW: The cast of the Star Wars prequels 15 years later – Business Insider

Its been 15 years since the final entry in the Star Wars prequels, Revenge of the Sith, was released. At the time, the cast was filled with a mix of both experienced and new actors.

Heres what the cast of the prequel trilogy is up to now.

Hayden Christensen is best known for his performance as Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels, but he started his career on television.

Christensens first role was in the German-Canadian series Family Passions (1993). He went on to appear on Canadian kids shows like YTVs Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark as well as Fox Familys Canadian-American drama Higher Ground.

In between the release of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (2005), Christensen received critical acclaim for playing Stephen Glass in the biographical drama Shattered Glass (2003).

Christensen has continued to act in movies such as Jumper (2008) and American Heist (2014).

More recently, he appeared in the rom-com Little Italy (2018) opposite Emma Roberts and starred in The Last Man (2019).

He also made a brief voice cameo in the latest Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Ewan McGregor is a Scottish actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels.

His first role was on the British TV mini-series Lipstick on Your Collar in 1993.

Other early work included his breakout film role in Trainspotting (1996) and his starring role in Emma (1996).

McGregor played Obi-Wan in all three prequels, starting with The Phantom Menace (1999). During this time, he was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in Moulin Rouge (2001) and starred in Tim Burtons Big Fish (2003).

McGregor has found continued success in film. Among other credits, he starred in and made his directorial debut in American Pastoral (2016).

McGregors most recent roles include Christopher Robin in Christopher Robin (2018), Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep (2019), and Black Mask in Birds of Prey (2020). He also had a voice cameo in The Rise of Skywalker.

On TV, McGregor played twin brothers on FXs Fargo in 2017, and he is currently set to reprise his role as Obi-Wan on an upcoming Disney Plus series based on the character.

Before playing Padm Amidala in The Phantom Menace (1999), Natalie Portman appeared in a few films including her breakout role in Lon: The Professional (1994).

Portman continued her role as Padm in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Portman has had a successful film career since the Star Wars prequel trilogy, with starring roles in films like V for Vendetta (2005), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and Lucy in the Sky (2019).

Portman also won an Oscar for her role in Black Swan (2010) and was nominated again for her role in the biopic Jackie (2016).

Portman joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Thor (2011) as Jane Foster and continued the role in Thor: Dark World (2013) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

She also made her feature-length directorial debut with the Israeli-American biographical drama A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015).

Portman is set to reprise her role as Jane Foster in Thor: Love and Thunder and on Marvels upcoming TV series What If ?

Samuel L. Jackson was already a household name when he was cast to play the lightsaber-wielding Jedi master Mace Windu.

Before joining the Star Wars universe in The Phantom Menace, Jackson spent the 1990s starring in critically acclaimed films Jurassic Park (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Jackie Brown (1997).

During his time working on the prequels, Jackson also starred in M. Night Shyamalans Unbreakable (2000) and provided the voice of Frozone in Pixars The Incredibles (2004).

Now, Jackson is probably best known for his recurring role as Nick Fury in The Avengers movies and greater MCU.

He reprised his role as Frozone in Incredibles 2 (2018) and he reprised the role of Elijah Price in Glass (2019), the second sequel to Unbreakable (2000).

After Pulp Fiction, Jackson starred in a few more Quentin Tarantino films, including Django Unchained (2012) and The Hateful Eight (2015).

His new movie Spiral is set to release in 2021, and hes also set to work on the upcoming Marvel series What If ?

Liam Neeson was cast as Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace after a decades-long career in film.

In the late 1990s, the Irish actor was best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance as Oskar Schindler in Schindlers List (1993).

His success in Star Wars opened doors to other roles in action and sci-fi movies, like Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), The Chronicles of Narnia series, and the Taken series.

His most recent film credits include the crime thriller Widows (2018) and the sci-fi sequel Men in Black: International (2019). He also made a voice cameo in The Rise of Skywalker.

Neeson is currently working on several projects, including the upcoming film Made in Italy.

Keira Knightley had a small role as Padms decoy in The Phantom Menace. This was one of Knightleys first film roles.

Knightley didnt rise to fame until her role as Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl(2003).

However, not long after her Star Wars and Pirates roles, Knightley was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (2005).

In the years since, Knightley has found success in period-piece dramas like Anna Karenina (2012) and Colette (2018).

Her most recent credits include the drama The Aftermath (2019) and the historical drama Misbehaviour (2020). She is currently working on the Christmas comedy Silent Night.

Jimmy Smits made it big on TV as Victor Sifuentes on NBCs LA Law from 1986 to 1992 and Detective Bobby Simone on ABCs NYPD Blue from 1994 to 2004.

Smits was introduced as Bail Organa in Attack of the Clones and was brought back for Revenge of the Sith.

Not long after the prequels, Smits had a main role on the NBC political drama The West Wing, and he has recently had featured roles on FXs Sons of Anarchy and ABCs How to Get Away With Murder.

He also reprised the role of Organa in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).

Smits is set to play Kevin Rosario in the upcoming film adaptation of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical In the Heights.

British actor Christopher Lee spent decades playing monsters and villains in British horror films.

Before Star Wars, he was well known for his take on Dracula in Hammer Film Productions Dracula films throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

While doing Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Lee was also playing Saruman in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, beginning with The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

Lee had a long-time working relationship with Tim Burton. After the Star Wars prequels, he appeared in many of the directors movies, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Alice in Wonderland (2010).

He also returned as the voice of Count Dooku in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and continued to reprise his role in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series through The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

His final feature-film credit was as the voice of The Boss/Mr. President in Angels in Notting Hill (2015).

Lee died of congestive heart failure at 93 years old in June 2015.

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THEN AND NOW: The cast of the Star Wars prequels 15 years later - Business Insider