Liam seemed born to play the role of Qui Gon Jinn. He’s very quiet, he’s very big, he’s very powerful, but he’s very contemplative. And Ewan is very witty and enthusiastic and young and impatient. Those things come through. Natalie is very intelligent, has a lot of presence and is a very strong person. At the same time, she’s very young. I needed somebody to play a 14-year old girl who basically could be elected to rule a planet and make that believable. Jake was this wild little Tom Sawyer kid, which was exactly what I was searching for in the young Anakin Skywalker.
George Lucas on casting for The Phantom Menace