It was hard: Natalie Portman on 'Star Wars' prequel backlash

Actor Natalie Portman says it was "hard" for her to come to terms with the negative reaction received by the prequel trilogy of "Star Wars" series.

Portman, 37, had portrayed Padme Amidala, who is later revealed to be the mother of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, in George Lucas' prequel films -- "Episode I: The Phantom Menace" (1999), "Episode II: Attack of the Clones" (2002), and "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" (2005).

The trilogy was largely panned by the critics and also failed to live up to the expectations of the franchise fans.

"It was hard. It was a bummer because it felt like people were so excited about new ones and then to have people feel disappointed," Portman told Empire magazine.

"Also to be at an age that I didn't really understand that's kind of the nature of the beast. When something has that much anticipation it can almost only disappoint," she added.

Portman, however, also believes that fans have over the time come to love the prequels.

"With the perspective of time, it's been re-evaluated by a lot of people who actually really love them now. There's a very avid group of people who think they're the best ones now. I don't have enough perspective to weigh in," she said.

Portman currently stars in Brady Corbet's pop star drama "Vox Lux".