Natalie Portman is one of the most admired actresses of the last decades and has been in front of the cameras since she was just a child
An agent discovered Natalie Portman when she was 11 years old and at 13 she starred in her first film, 'Léon: The Professional ( 1994), directed by Luc Besson, the first step in a brilliant career in which she starred in the highest grossing films and has won an Oscar for leading actress.
With her film debut, Portman soon understood the situation that women were facing in the film industry, as she told in the 'Women's March', held in January 2018, at the height of the 'Me Too' movement. , thus becoming one of the leading voices of feminism in Hollywood.
“I turned 12 years old recording my first film. I was very excited when, at the age of 13, the film was released and my work and my art would have a response. I opened my first letter from a fan and what I read was a fantasy that a man had written to me in which he raped me. On my local radio a countdown to my 18th birthday began, the date on which it would be legal to sleep with me, ”she recalled.
“Movie reviews were talking about my ‘incipient breasts. I understood very quickly, at the age of 13, that if I wanted to express myself S-, I would feel insecure, ”said the actress then, who since her debut rejected any role that included scenes.
“I got a reputation for basically being prudish, conservative, or serious in an attempt to feel like my body was safe and my voice would be heard,” she stated.
Already at the age of 13, the Oscar winner for 'Black Swan' was clear about “the message of our culture”, and felt the need to cover her body, inhibit her expression and her work to show herself as “someone worthy of security and respect”, for which she seemed destined.
FROM ‘STAR WARS TO THE OSCAR
Born as Natalie Herslag on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem (Israel), she is the only daughter of Israeli doctor Avner Hershlag and Shelly Stevens, an artist born in Cincinnati (Ohio), and agent of the actress, both of Jewish descent. The family first moved to Washington D.C. when Natalie was a child, eventually ending up in New York.
Discovered at just 11 years old by an agent, she refused to start a career as a model to opt for acting, first on stage and later in films such as 'Léon: The Professional (1994), 'Heat' (1995), 'Beautiful Girls' (1996), 'Mars Attacks!' (1996), directed by Tim Burton, and 'Everyone says I love you' (1996), by filmmaker Woody Allen.
Her age difference with Leonardo di Caprio prevented her from starring in 'Romeo and Juliet' (1996), and Natalie Portman rejected offers for 'Lolita' (1997), due to her high content. who also stopped filming 'The Ice Storm' (1997) that same year, since she was "too much of a character. Sinister".
For her participation in 'Anywhere But Here' (1999), the young actress demanded to eliminate the scenes, something for which she had the support of Susan Sarandon, the star of a film for which Portman received her first Globe nomination. Gold, as best supporting actress.
By then, Natalie Portman was already part of one of the great franchises in film history, 'Star Wars', for which she was hired by George Lucas in 1997, participating in three of his films in the role of Queen Padmé Amidala. ('Episode I - The Phantom Menace' (1999); 'Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002); and 'Episode III - Revenge of the Sith', released in 2005).
Her role as the wife of Anakin Skywalker and mother of Luke and Leia, as one of the most relevant characters in the saga, would make her a true world star, but she did not hesitate to combine her career as an actress with her university studies. , graduating in Psychology from Harvard University.
After she participated in 'Cold Mountain' (2003), Portman took the definitive turn in her career, focusing on more serious roles, something that gave her good results: for her work in 'Closer' (2004) she won a Golden Globe. for best supporting actress and her first Oscar nomination; and in 2005 she starred in the revered 'V for Vendetta', for which she completely shaved her head.
In the following five years, she starred in films such as 'Goya's Ghosts (2006), alongside Javier Bardem and directed by Milos Forman; 'Paris, je time (2006); 'The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), with Scarlett Johansson; 'Brothers' (2009) or 'New York, I love you' (2009).
The great role of his career came with 'Black Swan', a film presented at the 2010 Venice Festival, set in the world of ballet, and for which he won the Oscar, the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the BAFTA for Best Actress, as well as the Critics' Award.
During the filming of 'Black Swan' she met the French choreographer Benjamin Millepied, whom she married in 2012 and who became the father of her two children, Aleph and Amalia.
Natalie Portman would once again compete for all the awards, taking the Critics' Award, for her performance as Jacqueline Kennedy in the biographical film 'Jackie' (2016), directed by the Chilean Pablo Larrain and which she also presented in Venice, a film in which reviews the life of the American first lady after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.
In recent years she has gotten into the skin of the comic book character Jane Foster, in the adaptation of Marvel's adventures in the 'Thor' and 'Avengers' sagas.
Involved in various humanitarian and environmental causes, she does not neglect the political activism that in 2018 led her to reject the Israel Genesis Prize as a criticism of the role of her country of origin regarding Palestine and so that it was not interpreted as an endorsement of the president. Benjamin Netanyahu.
