Candid images from behind the scenes of the prequels

Brilliance, pure brilliance.

You're right: there's never enough. With AOTC, every picture just adds more and more. And it's amazing how youthful and eager-to-go everyone looks.

Yeah, this is cool. I think Hayden did that kind of sideways-glancing smile quite a lot on the set (or on location) on Episode II. Seems he was having a lot of fun.

And Natalie looks so darn cute. She powerfully confirms that small-breasted brunettes are a thing for me!

They'd have made such excellent babies.


UNLIMITED POLLEN!!!


That's our George. He's shy until he isn't.

He's more like a wild uncle there to Hayden's keen yet polite young man. They were both still pretty young there. It's funny how photography poignantly captures this infinitude of fleeting moments in time. 

I also like the halo effect of the lighting. Now that I think about it, the ship interior looks quite 2001-ish. Heck, Episode II was pretty much made or assembled that very same year. Kubrick elevated to pulp; or pulp elevated to Kubrick. The lights were all on in this movie, that's for sure.

The thought of not being with you... I can't breathe.

When you look at the above image, I think Anakin put that very mildly!

Interesting. Natalie Portman just seems to dodge criticism wherever she goes. Her body size has never altered much (apart from when she became pregnant), and maybe some people find staying lean relatively easy to do, like myself. Despite these politically-correct times we live in, there are significant health advantages to being lean, too. The worst outcomes with Covid, for instance, are generally seen in the elderly and in those who are overweight or obese. Caloric restriction is also known in animal studies to slow the aging process. It brings down various inflammatory markers and also has a positive impact on blood sugar levels, blood pressure, cholesterol, immune regulation, and aging factors like sarcopenia (involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength). While a calorie-restricted dietary approach is understudied in humans, there are good reasons to believe that reducing calorie intake and keeping it relatively low can extend both lifespan and healthspan in our own species (people rarely give thought to the latter). That said, curvy women can be very attractive, and some studies show that men generally prefer a little bit of meat on their women (and women probably don't want their men looking like drainpipes, either). Natalie, however, was insanely attractive in the prequel era, especially, in my opinion, in Episodes I and II. And she still has pretty remarkable looks now.  

I know we're not meant to "objectify" people anymore (for some reason), but Natalie was an object of desire for many guys in the 2000s. Although, in some cases, I think guys played it cool and pretended she was too girly and that they preferred "real" women with big boobs and hips. I saw that happen a few times, but you know that craving was real! Years ago, I uploaded a picture to my Facebook of Natalie perched on a table, showing off her cute feet. Nothing will ever sway me from that killer combination of a cute girl and sexy feet. Well, enough of my kinks/fetishes. Point is, back then, Natalie was just about perfection. And that in itself was an ideal piece of casting on GL's part (he almost seemed to have superpowers in that regard), because the prequels themselves are just about perfection, and what better than to cast someone with the sublime looks of Natalie for nearly the trilogy's central part?

I guess I can't play it cool when I look at that image! I mean, what beautiful bone structure, hair, skin, and proportions, right? Sadly, as we all know, GL cut out the family scenes in AOTC, yet they showcased Natalie with maybe the best hairstyle in the whole movie. Oh, she is stunning in that scene where Anakin meets her parents. But she looks pretty great in that veranda scene on Naboo, too. Just... yeah. There are so many reasons to love the prequels. I could never reject a set of movies with Battle Droids, Jar Jar, and Natalie.