The Poster Memorabilia blog

Meeting the Most Famous Jedi on the Red Carpet

A decade of carpets, four signatures, and the lesson one hound learned too late.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

I know most Star Wars fans hate the prequel trilogy, but I like them. Sure, the movies are far from the best in the franchise, the scripts are infamously clunky, and the effects could be improved, but overall, they're a good time. I especially love Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

This movie did a good job establishing the Star Wars lore, even for the more beloved original trilogy. It tied some loose strings together nicely, and it was good enough to keep me intrigued to see the two following films. As far as box office numbers go, The Phantom Menace was also a bona fide hit, and unsurprisingly, ranked as the top-grossing film of 1999.

I also believe that the cast helped make it a hit. Let's be real: it was always gonna be hard to find anyone who could live up to what Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford did in the original Star Wars films. Those movies turned them into screen icons, so the prequel cast had to be just as great.

And is there a better cast than Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, and Natalie Portman? By this point, all four actors were already fairly established. Jackson, for instance, gained worldwide fame playing Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction in 1994. Portman's breakout role was Mathilda in Léon: The Professional, also in 1994.

George Lucas boasted a great cast here, and they delivered the film's best performances. So, when I got my Phantom Menace movie poster years later, I wanted these actors—three Jedi and one Queen of Naboo—to be the first to sign it.

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It took a decade, but I still did it. I went to almost every red carpet event I knew they'd attend, and though it wasn't always a success, I still got them to sign my poster. Looking back, I can't believe I had the patience to chase down these celebrities.

In fact, it got to the point where I didn't really care about meeting them anymore. I just wanted their autographs on my poster. As such, I don't think I relished those celebrity encounters enough. Now that I'm not as active in autograph-hounding, I realize I could've cherished that time more.

I mean, I met Ewan McGregor at The Impossible premiere at TIFF in 2012, Liam Neeson at the New York premiere of A Walk Among the Tombstones in 2014, Natalie Portman at the 2017 Golden Globes, and Samuel L. Jackson at the LA premiere of Captain Marvel in 2019. I can't believe I actually got to go to these events, much less also get their autographs.

“I forgot what it was all about — the honor of meeting these people in person.”

But because I was too focused on getting my poster signed, I don't remember my interactions with them much. Only that they were nice enough to sign it, and that Portman smiled at me when I saw her at the Golden Globes.

Even blurrier are my memories of meeting and getting autographs from the rest of the cast. How I wish I vividly remembered seeing the great Frank Oz in real life, but I don't. I was too caught up with autograph-hounding that I forgot what it was all about—the honor of meeting these people in person.

At the very least, I still remember meeting these three Jedi and the Queen of Naboo, albeit only a little bit. Those sparse memories keep everything I’ve ever done worth it.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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