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From her first film, Luc Besson's
"The Professional" (1994), the slim, dark, olive-skinned and somewhat
exotic looking Natalie Portman was tagged with star quality, and as she
matured the actress proved her potential both as an Oscar-nominated
dramatic actress and as a pop movie icon with her role as the regal Padme
Amidala in the "Star Wars" prequels.
She played an orphan apprenticed to a "cleaner" or hit man (Jean Reno) who
serves as her mentor, and she as his savior. "The Professional" proved an
auspicious debut, winning Portman attention and positive notices, her
performance particularly applauded, even by those who found the movie
itself shocking. The young actress followed with a turn as Al Pacino's
stepdaughter, suffering the rejection of her real father, in Michael
Mann's "Heat" (1995). A smaller, less expository role than her previous
effort, "Heat" showcased Portman's natural ability, the actress capably
evincing her character's desperate dysfunction with very little dialogue
or screen time. Next she had a scene-stealing turn as a
wise-beyond-her-years young girl who establishes a tender and honest
friendship with Timothy Hutton's conflicted pianist in Ted Demme's
"Beautiful Girls" (1996). Again Portman received rave reviews which in
turn led to increased opportunities. She had two memorable but less
pivotal roles that same year, appearing in Woody Allen's odd musical
"Everyone Says I Love You" and as the bright and collected daughter of the
besieged United States president (Jack Nicholson) in Tim Burton's wacky
"Mars Attacks!"
While the type of roles the actress has taken on (generally tough but
sensitive old souls) reflected her own grounded maturity, perhaps even
more telling are the parts she has declined. At age 14, Portman was
approached for the starring role in Adrian Lyne's controversial remake
"Lolita", but reluctant to agree to the required nudity and heeding her
father's advice to avoid doing things on screen she had not yet
experienced in real life, opted to pass on the role. Later she reportedly
dropped out of Robert Redford's "The Horse Whisperer" (1998), a film in
which she was to play a 13-year-old, because she could no longer relate to
the young character. Instead she headed to Broadway to star in the revised
version of "The Diary of Anne Frank", lending a refreshing humanism to the
historical legend, portraying her as a somewhat disagreeable, silly and
vain young girl, a much more interesting characterization than her saintly
reputation. Portman received positive notices for her Broadway debut,
critics noting her grace as well as her unfettered talent and youthful
exuberance.
Next up for the actress was the role that would make her an international
star, that of Queen Amidala in the much-hyped prequel "Star Wars: Episode
I - The Phantom Menace" (1999). Portman joined the legendary saga as this
wise and responsible teenaged leader, the future mother of Luke Skywalker
and Princess Leia. She was also signed to reprise the role in the two
subsequent prequels set for release in 2002 ("Star Wars: Episode II -
Attack of the Clones") and 2005, a weighty decision for any young girl,
especially considering Portman's focus on education and her admission that
acting may not be where her future lies. Also in 1999, she starred
opposite Susan Sarandon in the Wayne Wang adaptation of Mona Simpson's
novel "Anywhere But Here", a culture shock tale tracing the ups and downs
of a mother and daughter who move from small town Michigan to Beverly
Hills, California.
Although the provocative nature of some of her earlier roles (including
the questionable relationships her character has with much older men in
both "The Professional" and "Beautiful Girls") has caused some to ask what
kind of parents this actress has, the reality is that the well-spoken and
charming Portman and her family have apparently made every effort to keep
her from being exploited on screen and off. "Portman" is a stage name; the
real family name has been shielded from the press. Wayne Wang reportedly
cut some of her character's more explicitly sexual scenes from the script
of "Anywhere But Here" at the request of the family. In an attempt to keep
her childhood and education as normal as possible, Portman commuted to her
Long Island high school to Broadway while performing in "The Diary of Anne
Frank". After filming her newly mature and romantic turn as
Amidala--paired opposite future Darth Vader Hayden Christensen in a
surprisingly chemistry-impaired match-up—in the second "Star Wars"
prequel, she took a lengthy break before returning to screen again in
director Anthony Minghella's "Cold Mountain" (2003) in a haunting
supporting turn as a young Civil War widow with an infant child
encountered by Jude Law who bears her own deep psychological scars from
her loss in the conflict.
She delivered her most charming adult performance yet as the open-hearted,
free-spirited Sam, the love interest in writer/director/star Zach Braff's
winning indie "Garden State" (2004)—indeed, approached as Braff's first
choice to play the character, it was Portman's interest in the project
that earned it funding. Playing a darker variation on the "Garden State"
character, Portman continued her move in more mature roles in Mike
Nichols' oft-brutal battle-of-the-sexes "Closer" (2004), playing a
stripper who become involved in a messy, flip-flopping quadrangle
involving two couples (Portman, Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen).
In a much-buzzed-about incident, Portman allowed Nichols to film a brief
nude scene with her character, but after finding the nudity distracting,
Nichols replaced the scene with a more discreetly filmed version at her
request. The actress' compelling performance earned her a Golden Globe for
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.
Hot off her Golden Globe win, Portman earned a spot at the Academy Awards
with a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Returning to the familiar galaxy far, far away for "Star Wars: Episode III
- The Revenge of the Sith" (2005) Portman provided tragic closure for the
prequel trilogy even though she and her character were not particularly
well-served by George Lucas' script. |
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On Lolita (1997): "I don't
think there needs to be a movie out where a child has sex with an
adult."
On Lolita (1997): I think there's enough exploitation out there that
it's not nescessary to do more.
"Young actors often don't think of the consequences of doing nudity
or sex scenes. They want the role so badly that they agree to be
exploited, and then end up embarassing family, friends, and even
strangers."
On acting: "I started to do this at age 11. At age 20, I might say,
this is enough."
On violence in the media: "We live in a violent world, but since the
success of films like Pulp Fiction (1994), it seems every movie has
some violence in it, and it's now being used as a form of comedy:
audiences are now being encouraged to laugh when people get their
heads blown off. I just don't like hearing people laugh at
violence."
"I also feel I'm a positive role model by not putting my education
on hold."
"I want to use college to explore what other careers I might be
interested in."
On acting: "I'm taking it day by day. Right now I like acting, but
if something else sparks my interest in college, I'll do that. It's
so limiting to say, this is it for the rest of my life. There are so
many things that interest me: I love math, science, literature,
languages."
On Lolita (1997): "Let me tell you, this movie's going to be
sleaze."
"I'm going to college. I don't care if it ruined my career. I'd
rather be smart than a movie star."
"I don't know if acting is what I want to do for the rest of my
life, it's just what I've, you Know, ended up doing when I was
little, and I've kinda grown up with it."
"When I'm working they pretty much treat me like an adult, but then
when there's a break everyone else goes to their trailers and drinks
beer and I like, go to school."
"There's so much else to do in the world. To just be interested in
doing films would limit my life."
"I think school is so much harder than real life. People are so much
more accepting when they are adults."
"Danny [Aiello] told me, 'Don't do television.'"
"Cute is when a person's personality shines through their looks.
Like in the way they walk, every time you see them you just want to
run up and hug them."
"I've never tried smoking. I don't drink. I've never tried drugs."
(Australian Dolly August 2000)
"Politics is easy to segue into from acting. I'm very interested in
it, though I would never run for office. But after this, anything I
do is going to seem very bizarre to me." (Interview October 1999)
"No, but I've been thinking about it a lot. I love acting, but I
don't know if there's something out there that I love more. That's
what college is going to be about for me - checking things out."
(Interview October 1999)
When asked by Seventeen magazine what advice she had for teenagers
going off to college she said, "I would say practicing laundry it's
so hard." (November 1999)
"There is a lot lacking on the intellectual side and on the values
side when being an actor." (Seventeen, November 1999)
Told the November 1999 issue of Mademoiselle magazine that she
wished she knew David Letterman because, "He seems to be so smart,
but you never get to hang out with him after the show."
When asked by German Cosmopolitan (3/00) if she would like having
herself as a daughter she replied, "Well of course. I am a good
person, nice, smart, witty, trustworthy, know nice people, don't do
drugs and earn a lot of money." On what she likes about her parents:
"They have made it quite clear that they believe I can be great. Had
my parents expected less of me,I would not be the person I am now.
And I am very happy with myself." (German Cosmopolitan March 2000)
"I'm not planning to be an actress as an adult, I'm planning other
things for my future." Source: Venice Magazine July 1995
"I don't think I'd be able to deal with just acting, because I don't
know if you get to use your brain that much. You do, for certain
roles, but not most. Acting is more of a hobby for me."
"There's a big intellectual aspect that's kind of lacking, " she
says of acting in films. "Right now I supplement that through being
in school. I'm not sure I'd be happy if I was just acting. I haven't
explored a lot of other avenues. Hopefully I'll figure it out by the
end of school, so I know what I want to do with my life."
When asked about her prom dress: "A designer is going to give me
something to wear. It's the most amazing perk I have."
"I didn't have this undying need to be an actress. I didn't have
that fire in me ever -- at any point. And still, I don't think I
have that within me."
"I don't really know if acting would have ultimately become my
passion as an adult, or if there's something else I would have found
had I not been in the pizza shop. That's what college is helping me
investigate."
"I'm ready to ditch the movies and keep at the books. There are so
many other things, and it would feel limiting to say, 'Acting is it
for me.'... I love psychology. That's what I'm studying right now.
It would probably be difficult, because of my current occupation, to
become a clinical psychologist, but I could certainly do research.
And I'd like to have a family someday, too."
It's horrible to be a sex object at any age, but at least when
you're an adult you can make the decision if you want to degrade
yourself.
"I don't go wagging my boobs around in people's faces" - Rolling
Stone (USA) June, 2002
"I couldn't be anorexic because I like food too much, and I couldn't
be bulimic because I hate throwing up too much."
"I've wanted to be an astronaut, a doctor, a vet - these are things
I've said in interviews. Before that, I wanted to be a mermaid and a
fairy".
"I was in a relationship recently with someone who yelled at me for
being too much in my head, you know? He said I was thinking too much
about everything".
"I usually run three or four times a week now. Pretty boring, but
it's so worth it. It's done wonders for my mood".
"I basically have a little boy's body. They tell me, 'OK, this is
where we're going to push up your cleavage,' and I'm like, 'What
cleavage?'"
On traveling through Morocco with a guide and sleeping in tents:
"They knew that I am Israeli, and yet they still opened the doors of
their houses for me, offering me tea. They all were nice and
hospitable."
"As I look back on it, I'm glad that I had this false image. I was
who everyone else - my parents, my friends, society - wanted me to
be. I was a pleaser, someone who wanted to make everyone happy, to
not let anyone down. Now, I'm not like that."
"My contemporaries in Israel have a love for life that's amazing.
There, there is not the luxurious and rich existence of material
goods of Hollywood films, every day they struggle to survive, but
they still have an enthusiasm difficult to find elsewhere."
"My grandfather was a Polish Jew and a socialist, and as a youngster
he helped to organize special camps to teach agriculture to all the
young men that where moving to Israel, where in 1930, they created
the first kibbutz."
"At college I began to do research for a professor and so I became
part of the organization promoted by the Queen of Jordon: the
Foundation for International Community Assistance. That offers
microcredits, offering small loans of money to women who want to
start their own businesses. The interest is very low and the results
are extraordinary."
I'm pretty much a boring Goody Two-shoes. I've definitely gotten
drunk before, I don't think it's possible to go through college
without getting drunk, but I don't really like it at all. I actually
tried my first cigarette last year at school. I just figured, if
many people are smoking, there must be something to it, and before I
pooh- pooh it I should at least know what it's about. I took one
puff and I was like, OK, I was right. There's nothing to it. They're
just wrong, it's disgusting.
"I've been doing like one movie a year so I haven't made that many
movies. A lot of girls my age have done 40 already, so I guess I'm a
little behind."
"I get like 400 Holocaust scripts. That's what you get for being the
openly Jewish actress!"
"I wanted to be able to form my own sexual identity. If other people
have you in their mind as some sort of sex object, you have two
choices: either live up to it and become super-sexual or rebel
against it and be super-asexual."
"I'm the anti-Method actor. As soon as we finish a scene, I need to
go back to being myself, because it freaks me out. But it was hard
not to take this home with me. I would feel cheated on when I went
home. There were weekend nights I would lie in bed instead of going
out with my friends."
"I had a bad early experience when "The Professional" came out. I'm
really proud of the film, but it was strange for me to be looked at
as a sexual object when I was 12."
I think it is a really beautiful thing that we have recognition
within our industry - but it's not that important.
But we have to remember that almost all films are written and
directed by men. Female characters are women imagined by men, so
it's always this classic figure of a sexy woman with a childish
innocence.
You walk into a nice strip club, the ones where the women are
treated well - obviously 'well' is debatable - and the women just
seem so powerful. Women have full control; they can get whatever
they want from these guys. But they realise it is a tacit contract:
they are that way because men want them to be like that. Obviously,
if the men wanted them on the floor scrubbing their shoes they'd
probably be doing that too.
"I see that my girlfriends, already at 23, are thinking, 'What
career can I choose that will also suit having children?' And it is
limiting. Whereas my male friends aren't thinking that way." -
Premiere magazine
"Some people will think I'm a neo-Nazi or that I have cancer or I'm
a lesbian. After all the crazy hairstyles I had to endure for the
films, it's quite liberating to have no hair - especially in this
heat." - about going bald
On filming Star Wars: "You learn after your first blue-screen movie,
and more after your second, the extent to which you have to prepare.
You have to come up with the scenery, the characters, the whole
world, as well as what's going on with you. You're often talking to
a tape mark instead of a character, and you have to project what
they might be thinking, what's going on, how they're treating you."
On filming Free Zone in Jerusalem: "I was sleeping five hours a
night and we were running from location to location and making up
the story as we went along. There's a scene where my arms are
uncovered and I'm very close to the guy. People got upset and we
moved to another place. It was just crazy because they were calling
us Nazis, and I think that's a little much."
"I was the precocious one when I was younger, and now I'm the
girlish one, which ultimately means I've stayed the same. Which is
not a good sign."
"People think the film industry is going to corrupt me. I wasn't
really home when my friends were trying pot for the first time. I
was always around adults who wouldn't curse or smoke or do anything
like that around me."
"The people whose secrets I most want to know are people who
actually have families and marriages as well as careers - people
like Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore. I think that
if I were like mid-30s and didn't have kids yet I would probably
start adopting or something. Aargh, I don't even have a boyfriend,
and I'm talking about kids!"
On starring in Closer (2004/I): "It's not exploitative, but it is
about sex. No kids allowed. It's definitely a different thing for
me, but I feel like I'm old enough to handle it now. I sort of
understand more how to deal with it publicly, and it doesn't shatter
me. I don't have to go to school the next day and have people be
like, 'Oh I saw you in that movie; you were very dirty'".
"I think, especially in those first few years of college, my body
started changing a lot. I got hips. Your metabolism changes; you're
not exercising as much. I ran track for a couple of years in high
school, and I was also dancing. I was always doing something. At
Harvard, you don't really join the team unless you're a star."
"They are all so very different, Episode III is very dark and much
more demanding, we all know that Anakin becomes Darth Vader but to
actually see this transition is very painful. So when you have such
a dark story to work with it demands you as an actor to work harder.
So even though I haven't seen the film yet I would suppose that the
last one is my favorite". (On which of the three Star Wars prequels
is her favorite)
"I began Star Wars when I was 14 and I'm going to be 24 when this
final movie comes out, so these movies were 10 years of my life and
now I'm just trying to do something different."
"I agree with Walter Murch's theory that digital will never have the
emotional or visual power of regular film, because audiences respond
to absences. Regular film has a split second of blank screen between
each shot, which the audience's brain has to automatically fill in.
Digital doesn't have that, so it doesn't engage the audience in the
same ways. In all modernist literature, the most present thing is
what's absent. Like the opening of The Sound and the Fury, where
they're looking between the fence. Or in Closer the most important
parts, the relationships, are missing and have to be filled in by
the audience. Absences are crucial."
"I was especially fascinated by memory studies. There was one that
requested people's good and bad memories, and then checked them for
content. But non- pathological people, people who maintain a happy,
healthy brain, couldn't provide negative memories. They'd say, 'But
I learned this from the experience;' they'd turn their negative
memories into positive ones."
"I get a copy of every action figure from Star Wars. I send them to
charity. Some of the really cool ones I keep. Like there's a snow
globe thing with one of the spacecrafts in it, which is also a music
box, which I really love."
(asked if winning the Globe was a shock) God, yes! I was so sure I
wasn't going to win it, I went up to Meryl Streep (nominated for The
Manchurian Candidate) before the show and said, "You're going down."
We'd done a play together, so I knew her pretty well, but to me, it
was a big joke, like, I'm going to win against Meryl-yeah, right.
When they called my name, all I could think was, oh no, Meryl's
going to be mad at me!
(on the necklace she gave Julia Roberts) Oh, I made the mistake of
telling one person I did that - now everyone loves this story! It
was just a joke, because there were lots of dirty words in the
script, and every time Julia had to say a bad word she got all
blushy.
The moment you buy into the idea you're above anyone else is the
moment you need to be slapped in the face.
I actually am starting to feel I should start a revolution against
heels, even though that wouldn't be a dramatic revolution. Everyone
around me says, 'You have to wear heels.' It's based on some silly
concept that longer legs are more beautiful.
"In seventh grade I cried every single day when I came back from
shooting The Professional. My friends were not my friends. They were
saying, 'She thinks she's so hot now,' things like that, and it was
the most painful thing I've ever gone through. Clearly, I haven't
had that difficult a life." - Jane Magazine 1999
"Ashley (Judd) and I went to this place called the Broken Spoke. You
walk in and everyone's wearing cowboy hats and men come up to you
and ask you to dance. We danced the two-step together, and all these
men were coming up, saying, "It's not right to see two ladies
dancing. Let us cut in!"
"There were stories in the house of what had happened to them (her
grandparents during the Holocaust), and it wasn't that much talked
about. I had to go on a website to read my grandfather's
descriptions of what happened to the family."
[on Tom Tykwer, and working with him during his personal crisis]
"The very first time we met we were able to tell each other so much
about our personal experiences and what we were going through at the
moment- my own experience was a similarly difficult and pivotal one
for me, though obviously a bit more adolescent than Tom's. It was
part of what made the film seem like a joint search for something, a
joint expedition."
[on shooting the strip-club scene fully nude] "You can't do this
stuff half-assed, pun intended."
[asked how she would like to be remembered] "I don't like that
question. That question only provides irony if you prematurely die."
[Morocco] "When I finished V for Vendetta (2005), I went for a few
days as sort of a birthday present for myself. I went out into the
desert and an amazing storm was taking place, which is so unusual in
the desert. I ended up in a tent with the six strangers whom I had
just met, and had traveled with earlier on camel back. There we
were, watching this amazing lightening in the middle of the desert.
The tent was shaking and it was a really exciting experience."
"I aspire to make more comedies because we never see enough good
ones."
"When I was nine and attending a Jewish school, we had different
kosher lunches served. We weren't kosher at home. My mom used to
make me chicken salad sandwiches and I would have to lie to
everyone, saying it was tuna. "It doesn't smell like tuna," they'd
say."
[On preparing for her role as Queen Amidala] "George worked with me
a lot, on changing my voice and my movement and the way I carried
myself. We worked on this accent that ... kinda goes to old, older
generations of actresses who used kind of an unidentifiable accent.
'Is it American or is it British?' and I watched Lauren Bacall,
Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn. If you look at them, their voices
and the stature is so regal, even in their everyday characters. And
that's kinda why I used it to model after". |
