Why doesn't the princess get any older in starwars?

Question

I'm wondering here if anyone else has noticed that in episode one of starwars Anikin is like 12 years old and the princess seems to be in at least her late teens if not 20's, and as the series progresses Anikin by the 3rd movie is about 18-19 and the princess is still only about 20 years old.

Answer 1

She does age at the same rate - but because of the difference in their ages, it's less noticable.

Assuming that Anakin was 8 years old in Episode I, you would expect him to look a lot different 10 years later, at the age of 18.  If Padme was 16, say, she wouldn't look that much different 10 years later at the age of 26.

Of course, the difference was highlighted more by hiring a different actor to play Anakin 10 years older, while Natalie Portman had only aged 3 years in real life, instead of 10.

Portman was about 16 or 17 when Episode 1 was shot, and probably 19 or 20 when Episode 2 was filmed.

EDIT: According to Wookieepedia, I was close - Anakin was supposed to be 9 years old in Episode 1, and Padme was 14.  10 years later (Episode 2) they would be 19 and 24.