Natalie Portman has said that appearing in the Star Wars prequels had an adverse effect on her acting career, according to Digital Spy.
The Oscar-winning Black Swan actress recalled her struggles with George Lucas's sci-fi series in a tribute to her Closer director Mike Nichols, who passed away last month at the age of 83.
Portman first worked with Nichols in an all-star production of Chekhov's The Seagull in 2001, while she was in between Star Wars movies.
"Star Wars had come out around the time of Seagull, and everyone thought I was a horrible actress," she told NY Magazine.
"I was in the biggest-grossing movie of the decade, and no director wanted to work with me.
"Mike wrote a letter to Anthony Minghella and said, 'Put her in Cold Mountain, I vouch for her'. And then Anthony passed me on to Tom Tykwer, who passed me on to the Wachowskis."
Portman also credited Nichols with saving her after a tumultuous break-up, adding: "I was at his apartment on the floor, and he picked me up and gave me a pep talk and sent me to a doctor and straightened me out - literally peeled me off the floor."
Portman was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for Nichols's Closer and won six years later for Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.