‘Star Wars’ Alums Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman Had Never Met Before the 2024 Golden Globes

Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman have both been part of the Star Wars universe for decades, but they’d apparently never met before — until the 2024 Golden Globe Awards.

Hamill, 72, shared a photo of himself posing with Portman, 42, backstage at the Sunday, January 7, awards show, which was held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

“Now I have finally met my ‘mother,’ thanks to the @goldenglobes,” Hamill quipped in his Instagram caption on Monday, January 8.

Hamill has played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars since the original trilogy debuted in 1977. Portman, meanwhile, joined the franchise in 1999 as Luke’s mother, Padmé Amidala, in the prequel trilogy. (While Portman is 30 years younger than Hamill, the first prequel film, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, is set 32 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.)

Portman and Hamill have never actually shared the screen in a Star Wars project, but fans were still shocked that the duo had never crossed paths before Sunday. “They’ve never met previously??? no way ?!?” one Instagram user wrote in response to 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.”

Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy, shared his appreciation for the mother-son reunion in the comments section as well, writing, “Love it. ??????.”

Portman was at the Golden Globes as a nominee for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her work in May December. She ultimately lost to Emma Stone, who won for her portrayal of Bella Baxter in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

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Hamill, meanwhile, served as a presenter at the awards show, handing out the trophy for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. The category was new to the Golden Globes in 2024 and recognized films that grossed at least $100 million domestically and $150 million worldwide.

The prize went to Barbie, which has grossed more than $1.4 billion at the box office since its July 2023 debut. The other nominees 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.