Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman looked so much alike on set, not even their own mothers could tell them apart!
When Star Wars Confused Even Their Own Mothers
Imagine being so perfectly cast for a role that your own mother can't pick you out of a lineup. That's exactly what happened to Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman on the set of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
Knightley, who was just 12 years old at the time, played Sabé—one of Queen Padmé Amidala's handmaidens who served as her royal decoy. The entire plan hinged on one thing: Sabé needed to look exactly like the Queen. And boy, did the casting directors nail it.
The Ultimate Doppelgänger Casting
The resemblance between young Knightley and Portman was already striking, but once the elaborate Amidala makeup, costumes, and white face paint were applied, even the people who knew them best were fooled. As Knightley herself told The Telegraph: "Our mums did actually confuse us on set."
Think about that for a second. These weren't random crew members or background extras getting mixed up—these were the women who literally gave birth to them, changed their diapers, and raised them from infancy. And they couldn't tell who was who.
Why the Deception Mattered
In the Star Wars universe, this confusion wasn't a bug—it was a feature. The whole point of Sabé's character was to act as a body double for Queen Amidala during dangerous situations. When the Trade Federation invaded Naboo, Sabé would dress as the Queen and sit on the throne while the real Padmé disguised herself as a simple handmaiden.
To sell this illusion on screen, the filmmakers went the extra mile: all of Sabé's dialogue was dubbed over by Natalie Portman. Even Knightley's voice had to match Portman's perfectly. Talk about commitment to the bit.
The mix-ups weren't limited to their mothers, either. Crew members regularly confused the two actresses throughout filming. And decades later, the resemblance still causes problems—Portman admitted to Vanity Fair that people still mistake her for Knightley, calling it "very flattering."
Two Careers, One Unforgettable Moment
While Knightley's role in The Phantom Menace was relatively small (she appears in only a handful of scenes), it marked an early milestone in what would become a spectacular career. She'd go on to star in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, earn Oscar nominations for Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game, and become one of Britain's most celebrated actresses.
But she'll always share this bizarre distinction with Natalie Portman: they once looked so much alike that not even DNA could tell them apart. Well, metaphorically speaking.