Surprising Encounter: 'Star Wars' Veterans Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman Finally Cross Paths at the 2024 Golden Globes

Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman, both long-time members of the Star Wars universe, finally met for the first time at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards. Hamill, 72, took to social media to share a photo of their backstage encounter at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, January 7.

"After all these years, I finally got to meet my 'mother,' thanks to the @goldenglobes," wrote Hamill in his Instagram post on January 8. He has portrayed Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars series since the original trilogy premiered in 1977. Portman, on the other hand, entered the franchise in 1999 as Luke's mother, Padmé Amidala, in the prequel trilogy. (Despite being 30 years younger than Hamill, the first prequel film, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, takes place 32 years prior to the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.)

Portman and Hamill have never actually appeared together in a Star Wars project, but fans were still surprised by the fact that the duo had never met before Sunday. “They’ve never met previously??? no way ?!?” one Instagram user commented on Hamill’s snap. Another fan made a joke about Luke’s first meeting with Darth Vader in the original films, writing, “Well that went a lot better than when you met your father.”

Courtesy of Mark Hamill/Instagram

Ahmed Best, known for his role as Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy, also expressed his admiration for the mother-son reunion in the comments, writing, "Love it. ️️️."

At the Golden Globes, Natalie Portman was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her role in May December. She was ultimately defeated by Emma Stone, who won for her portrayal of Bella Baxter in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

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Hamill presented the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement at the 2024 Golden Globes, a new category that acknowledged films making a minimum of $100 million domestically and $150 million globally. Barbie took home the prize, with over $1.4 billion in box office earnings since its release in July 2023. Nominees also included Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.