Laser guns and Phantom Menace mega-success aside, Natalie Portman is determined to keep her feet on the ground and finish her education

NEW YORK--Natalie Portman is half-way through an incredible journey.

It began four years ago when she was just 14 and received a call from George Lucas.

He wanted to meet her at his Skywalker ranch outside San Francisco to audition for the pivotal role of Queen Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace.

Queen Amidala is the young monarch of the besieged planet of Naboo who eventually becomes the mother of Luke Skywalker and his twin sister Leia.

"George was so sweet. We just sat and talked. He never asked me to read anything from the script. After a while, he told me the role was mine if I wanted it," recalls the young star of such films as The Professional, Beautiful Girls and Mars Attacks!

Portman didn't immediately accept Lucas' offer.

"I needed time to think.

"George wasn't just offering me another movie role. He was asking me to commit to three movies to be shot over a period of six years and, at the time I met him, he still had two years of pre-production left. That meant I had to surrender eight years of my life.

"I also had to consider how being in this new Star Wars trilogy would change my life."

After weighing her options, Portman signed her three-picture deal. Then she tried to prepare herself emotionally and intellectually for the hype that would accompany the release of The Phantom Menace.

"The thing I feared most has begun to happen. People are becoming too interested in me as a person and not me as an actress.

"I have purposely tried to keep my personal life out of the public domain, but it's getting harder with each passing week."

Portman is her stage name.

"My family deserve their privacy. I think it's enough for people to know that my father is a doctor without knowing exactly who he is."

She may be guarded about her personal life, but when it comes to her career and The Phantom Menace, Portman is an open book.

Her role as the young queen requires her to wear elaborate costumes and head -gear. [Image] "I saw the sketches at my first meeting with George, so I knew a little about what I was in for. The head-pieces were extremely heavy and uncomfortable. On the days I wore them, it was like having a constant headache.

"The costumes are so cumbersome I doubt I'll start a fashion trend."

It wasn't just Portman's costumes that Lucas helped design. He also helped her create Queen Amidala's voice.

"George had me work with a dialogue coach to develop something between an American and British accent. To make me to sound really regal, he wanted it to resemble Lauren Bacall's deep, resonant voice.

"After we completed the film, George electronically modulated it even more."

Lucas calls The Phantom Menace a boys' movie, promising that the next instalment --set to begin filming next year in Sydney--will be a more romantic film.

"I may not have got a lightsaber like Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson did, but I got my own cool laser gun."

This summer, Portman will film Where the Heart Is, a movie about a pregnant 17 -year-old girl who is trapped in a mall.

"George never once suggested guidelines for the movies I do between the Star Wars films. He knows that his movies are not the centre of my life.

"That said, he has been extremely cooperative and understanding about my life.

"He knows I'll be going to college, so he has scheduled our next shoot in Australia for my summer break. He has three of his own children and has incredible respect for education."