Robinson's first audition was for the role of Queen Amidala in the 1999 movie Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace; a part which ultimately went to Natalie Portman. Robinson struggled with the audition and had problems with her strong Yorkshire accent. According to herself, she "didn't know what to do and I was really nervous and I felt like I had to talk really proper, like I tried to talk properly," adding that she also had to "sit up really straight".