Neil Henderson brought to our attention this article that appears in today's The Sun Newspapaer (UK).

Star Wars Fever: Day 1 of a Sun Series on the Biggest Movie Ever

STAR KIDS

Young heroes of new sci-fi blockbuster

These two kids (pics of Portman and Lloyd) are about to become the biggest young stars in the world when the new Star Wars movie is launched.

They are Natalie Portman and Jake Lloyd.

Natalie, 17, plays Queen Amidala, the mother of Luke Skywalker and his sister.

Jake stars as the young Darth Vader.

The movie, called Episode 1: The Phantom Menace is the most eagerly awaited film of all time.

And when it opens in America on May 19 it is expected to be first blockbuster to gross 100million dollars (?63million) in its first weekend.

The film is set before the previous trilogy - Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. And it is tipped to become the biggest movie ever. It opens in Britain on July 16.

Natalie made her film debut as gangster's daughter Matilda in the 1994 movie Leon and has since appeared in Mars Attacks!

She is the daughter of an Israeli-born fertility doctor and an artist mother. Portman is her grandmother's maiden name - she uses it to protect her family's privacy.

Natalie, an only child who was born in Jerusalem, moved with her family to Washington at three, then to Connecticut before finally settling in Long Island.

She has had a relatively normal upbringing - she goes to a state high school - and appears unfazed by new-found stardom.

"I just have to watch myself when I start talking about the movie because it's very easy to brag. But it's so obnoxious I have to stop myself!" Natalie developed her acting skills by performing in school and plays in New York. Eventually she was signed up by a top agent who put her in touch with various Hollywood names and she got her first role in Leon.

Natalie was approached to star in last year's controversial remake of Lolita with Jeremy Irons - but turned it down because she felt it would not be right for her.

She explains: " My parents read all the scripts I am offered. They obviously want to protect me and make sure I have as normal an upbringing as possible."

Natalie is already signed to star in two more Star Wars films but is determined not to sacrifice her education for a Hollywood career and plans to go on to study at the University of New York.

She says: "I don't know if I'd be able to deal with just acting. I'd rather be smart than a movie star."

"I don't know if you get to use your brain much as an actress - acting is more of a hobby for me. I think school is so much harder than real life."

"People are so much more accepting when they are adults."

Yet the new film is already making it hard for her to live a normal life.

Natalie and her parents are worried that the number of fans turning up at her school will make life impossible for her once the film is out. They have had meetings with teachers who agree that it will be best if she stops attending classes at least a week before the release date.

Natalie, who is a straight-A student, will miss her big graduation before going off to university. Her young co-star in Phantom Menace, ten-year-old Jake Lloyd, plays Anakin Skywalker, the innocent-looking youngster who grows up to become the face of evil we all know better as Darth Vader.

Jake's big-screen debut came in 1996 with the release of Nick Cassvete's Unhook The Stars.

Since then he has co-starred with Arnie Schwarzneggerin Jingle All The Way and has been in many TV ads, three episodes of ER and has guest-starred on the US television series, The Pretender.

The talented actor beat off more than 2,500 other young hopefuls in the search for the right actor to play the young Vader.

According to casting director Robin Gurland, Jake was a class above the rest.

Film producer George Lucas, the mastermind behind Star Wars, is said to adore the young star. He says: "Jake is a natural."

"He embodies the same presence Luke had in the first film."

And Steven Spielberg calls him "one of the most determined kids I've seen in a film in recent memory."

After playing alongside Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson and Samuel L Jackson, the young star from Los Angeles is not daunted by the thought of the wealth and superstardom which the Star Wars film will bring.

He said in a recent interview: "I just love acting, meeting people, going all over the place - and girls go nuts over me."

But then again, maybe no one has told young Jake quite how big this film is going to be.

In 1977, Star wars became the most successful movie in history, and since then it has taken ?3billion in spin-off merchandising such as toys and clothes. The Phantom Menace is predicted to do even better than that.

Jake's character, nine-year-old Anakin, lives in the slave quarters of Mos Espa, on the planet Tatooine.

Kind-hearted and optimistic, he is referred to by the supreme Jedi Council as "the one who will bring balance to The Force."

Obi-Wan Kenobi is granted permission to train Anakin to become a Jedi Knight.

But as we know already, when the lad grows up, he buys a menacing black outfit and develops some severe breathing problems.

Jake, who lives with his mum Lisa, a trainee theatrical agent, dad Bill and five-year-old sister Madison, is currently working with Christopher Walkan on Crown Of Blood about the last days of the Russian royal family.

Star Fact

The Phantom Menace is predicted to be the first film to take $100million on its opening weekend in the US - that is about ?62million. And it is being tipped to make more than ?3billion world-wide from toy sales merchandise alone. Ewan McGregor is said to have been paid around $4million (?2.5million to play Obi Wan Kenobi)

Star Fact

George Lucas financed the film's entire ?70million budget out of his own pocket. But it is believed he stands to boost his bank account by a staggering ?620million as a result of the film's success. Lucas has signed a ?1.2billion deal to put the Phantom Menace logo, and pictures of its stars, on the side of eight billion Pepsi cans.

Star Fact

The set in Tunisia, where the film's fictional city of Mos Espa was located, had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in a sandstorm. It was the worst in the country since 1977 - and that one wrecked the last Star wars set! As well as Tunisia, the epic was shot on location in Oxfordshire and at Lucas' Ranch in California.

Star Fact

British audiences get the chance to enter the fantasy world of Star Wars before the new saga hits our cinemas. Costumes, new characters and even one of the spaceships go on show when a ?5million exhibition opens here in June. The next part of the epic series is scheduled for 2002. It is expected to be directed by Steven Spielberg.