Natalie Portman’s son ambushes her in video call with YouTuber Marlon LuGa

Anything can happen on the streets of Paris — even surprise video calls with Natalie Portman!

YouTuber Marlon LuGa learned that specific, serendipitous lesson over the weekend when a chance encounter with a fan led to meeting the Star Wars alum, 44, via FaceTime. In a video shared to the streamer’s Instagram page, LuGa was live-streaming a day of soccer for fans on Sunday when he was approached by Portman’s son, Aleph, while getting ready on the field.

The 13-year-old introduced himself by referencing his famous mom, asking LuGa if he knew Portman. When the streamer said he didn’t recognize the name, Aleph referred to Portman’s beloved role as Luke Skywalker’s mother, Padmé Amidala, in all three of the Star Wars prequel movies.

“You know Star Wars? Padmé Amidala?” he asked, before delivering the surprising line, “Well, that’s my mom. Can you give a shoutout to my mom?” 

LuGa was understandably shocked, even as Alpeh showed the streamer family pics on his phone to verify the family connection “That’s your mom?!” Luga asked, to which the teen calmly confirmed, “Yeah, that’s my mom.”

Wasting no time, LuGa jumped on the unique opportunity, agreeing to a FaceTime call. When Portman appeared on the screen, Aleph introduced the streamer, asking her, “Do you want to say hi to Marlon?” he asked.

LuGa quickly acknowledged the Hollywood star, apologizing for the impromptu call. “Hi, I’m sorry for disturbing you, I just want to say hi real quick,” he told a laughing Portman. “I’m here with your son. We’re about to play a little football.”

But Portman was clearly amused by the situation as she graciously wished LuGa well before ending the call. “Nice to meet you. I hope you’re having a great day. Have a good one,” she told the streamer, before the call concluded.

LuGa was visibly overwhelmed by the moment — candidly revealing that Portman’s Padmé was his “biggest crush” when he was younger — and fans were equally surprised by the brief peek into Portman’s otherwise private family life.

“Very beautiful woman, very good son,” LuGa told his livestream viewers. “I just want to respectfully say that. That’s insane.”

“He looks just like her too! Imagine saying ‘Padme Amidala is my mom,'” one user commented, while another wrote, “That’s my mom 🩷🌷 biggest flex, he’s so proud.”

Aleph is the son of Portman and her ex-husband, Benjamin Millepied. The two also share daughter Amalia.

Portman, and Millepied, 48, first met while working together on the set of Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 hit Black Swan, which went on to win Portman an Oscar for Best Actress. They married Aug. 4, 2012 and called it quits in March 2024, after 11 years of marriage.

It’s not the first time Portman and her son sparked headlines — albeit, the last time it was her onscreen son, Mark Hamill.

Hamill and Portman turned the 2024 Golden Globes into a family reunion when they had an impromptu run-in backstage.

Both Hamill and Portman have frequently joked about how they’d never actually met in person, despite their family ties. (Padmé, of course, died well before the events of the original Star Wars, dying while giving birth to twins Luke and Leia in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith.)

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Stephen Colbert even confronted Portman about never meeting Hamill when the actress appeared on his show in 2018. “It’s such a shame!” Portman said at the time. “I would love to meet him. Mark, I would love to meet you. Come over!”

A day after the ceremony, Hamill took to social media to share the photo he took with Portman at the 81st annual awards show.

“Now I have finally met my ‘mother,’ thanks to the @goldenglobes,” Hamill wrote.

“When I saw that Natalie Portman was my mother, I thought holy moly,” Hamill previously joked. “A woman that beautiful has a kid that looks like this? I’m not buying it. I should look way more handsome.”

Looks like the Force (and luck) are with both Portman’s sons!