Much of the action revolves around two Jedi Knights, protectors of the galaxy. Liam Neeson was so eager to play the experienced Qui-Gon Jinn that he took the role without reading a script. Ewan McGregor, playing a young Obi-Wan Kenobi, kept making light saber noises as he dueled, even after he was told sound effects would be added later.

Natalie Portman, 18, played Queen Amidala. She missed the movie’s New York premiere because she had to study for her high school final exams. In future films, Amidala would marry Ani and then give birth to Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. In this film, she trades places with one of her attendants, played by a 12-year-old Keira Knightly.

This was the first and only “Star Wars” film in which British actor Anthony Daniels didn’t physically play the comically fussy robot C-3PO. Instead, the droid — who, at one point in the film is told he’s “naked” — was performed by a puppeteer who was later digitally erased. In this film, it’s revealed that young Ani designed and built C-3PO himself.

Michael Jackson was interested in playing Jar Jar Binks but insisted on wearing prosthetic makeup. The film’s casting director instead spotted comedian and actor Ahmed Best in a performance of the percussion stage production, “Stomp.” Best intentionally portrayed the CGI-generated Jar Jar as comically awkward but “Star Wars” fans have rejected the character.

Benicio del Toro was originally cast as the villainous Darth Maul but quit when most of the character’s lines were cut. In the finished film, Maul — played by Ray Park but voiced by Peter Serafinowicz — says only three lines. The character appears to be killed in the action climax of the film but was resurrected in 2011 for The Clone Wars, appearing in its fourth season.