Question: Why are there a lot of recent internet jokes about Padmé being twice Anakin's age or them having a huge age difference? I thought she was only five or six years older. Of course, age 14-15 is a lot different than being 9-10, but they don't even see each other for another 10 years before they get married.
raywest
3rd Jun 2025
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
30th Jul 2023
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: Why does Darth Maul have almost no dialogue?
Answer: Probably because Ray Park, who portrayed Darth Maul, was not a professional actor, but a martial arts expert and stuntman who was recruited for the film. Another actor, Peter Serafinowicz, voiced what little dialogue there was.
Answer: The comment by RayWest is a good possible behind-the-scenes reason. Also, I think Darth Maul had been raised by Palpatine/Darth Sidious from a young age, unless that is no longer canon. Unlike Vader and Tyranus, who join Sidious as adults, Maul has almost no interests nor associations with others. He is focused on serving his master because it's all he knows. This could be why he says very little to others - he has no desire, nor much knowledge, about how to interact with them. But again, I am not sure exactly what is canon now.
30th Apr 2021
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: Is it true that Peter Serafinowicz voiced Darth Maul because Ray Park's voice was too squeaky?
Answer: Ray Park's film work has mostly been as a stunt double and not as a speaking actor. Peter Serafinowicz has extensive experience as both an actor and doing voice-over work. He was better able to vocalize the Darth Maul character. It's fairly common in films (particularly sci-fi and fantasy) for minor character's voices to be dubbed over by other actors. Many movie scenes are filmed without sound and the dialogue and sound effects are added in post-production. Many actors dub over their own voices for better sound quality.
12th Aug 2019
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: Why would the Trade Federation need the queen to sign a treaty to make their invasion legal if they've already invaded the place and taken over anyway?
1st Jan 2018
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: After R2-D2 helps fix the escaping ship, Queen Amidala thanks the droid in front of Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and her handmaidens, but Amidala's decoy refers to her handmaiden as Padme. Why doesn't she refer to her as Sabe? Doesn't everyone know that Queen Amidala's first name is Padme?
Answer: Padme was impersonating a handmaid, using her real name. Sabe was playing her role of Queen Amidala. This was unknown to Qui-Gon.
But the point is that using the queen's real name seems like it's giving the game away a bit.
Answer: While their age difference was a minor consideration, fans had issues with other factors. Padmé was a sophisticated, high-born individual who served as queen and senator and was far more mature, educated, and worldly than Anakin, a former slave. Even ten years later, Anakin, barely beyond his teens, was emotionally immature, somewhat reckless, impulsive, self-centered, and often demonstrated poor judgement. He had little real-world experience, being constantly constrained by Obi-Wan. Plot-wise, Padmé's eventual attraction seemed forced, illogical, and unrealistic given their differences in age, temperament, maturity, and status.
raywest ★
Good points. Five or six years is not an age difference (if both people are legal adults), in my opinion, but Anakin could seem "younger," considering that Jedi don't have "normal" lives.