BIOGRAPHY

Occupation - Actress
Date of Birth - June 9, 1981
Birth Place - Jerusalem, Israel
Residence - unknown
Height - 5' 3" (1.60 m)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Auburn/Brown
Religion: Jewish
Education: Graduated from Syosset High School, Syosset, New York June 29, 1999. Attended Harvard University, received her Harvard degree in June of 2003. Attended Hebrew University in Jerusalem as of September 2004.

Marital Status: Single never married.
Dated : Chesa Boudin 2004
Dated Lukas Haas. [July 2001]

Natalie Portman was born (Natalie Hershlag) June 9, 1981 in Jerusalem, Israel to father Avner Hershlag a fertility specialist and her mother Shelley (an artist). Natalie was born on her mother's 29th birthday. At the age of three her family moved to the United States to Washington D.C. area and then Connecticut but soon relocated to Syosset, New York, where she spent the rest of her childhood growing up. Her parents encouraged her and has taken dance lessons since the age of 4. She is trained in ballet, jazz and tap dancing. She has been a strict vegetarian since the age of 8, she practices what is called "Vegan Vegetarianism. Natalie is very close to her parents and says, "The best part about being friends with your parents is that no matter what you do, they always love you."

Natalie developed an interest in performing after attending the Stagedoor Manor Performing Camp for three summers starting at about age 8. A very expensive and exclusive camp for privileged children, it has a very prestigious reputation as a young performers camp. Her first acting experiences came from her summers there where she was cast in several theater performances including Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Cabaret", "Anne of Green Gables" in 1994 (in the title role), and "Tapestry" in 1995. Even early in her life Natalie demostrated natural talent and brillance with her acting ability.

At the age of 11 she was spotted by an agent searching for a child model in 1992, which basically started off her professional acting career. Only six months later at the age of 12, she debuted in the critically acclaimed film "Léon" (1994), directed by Luc Besson. Although the movie was a huge hit, it caused her family some problems due to her Lolita-type role in the film. The film was great success in Europe and the rest of the world. However in the sexually constipated United States her role was shunned and sadly received little credit for its brillance and depth in filmmaking. The media seemed more interested in complaining about her controversial role as a young teenager in the film. Not surprisingly the problem most people had was with the sexual inferences in the film but the teenager with the gun part was fine with most.

This role launched her movie career and made her into a known actress, irreguardless of how she felt after the movie was completed and released. Natalie has been many times quoted saying that she'd never do a nude scene and how there's too much sex and violence in movies. (really?) Her family received a lot of criticism for her role in this film. She subsequently lands bigtime supporting roles in "Heat" (1995), "Everyone Says I Love You" (1996), "Beautiful Girls" (1996) and "Mars Attacks!" (1996) quickly in the years that followed the film "Léon".

Natalie then has her choice of roles and is offered a lead part in the remake of the film "Lolita" but turns it down. Due to her feeling that young actors should not be exposed to sex at such a young age. Later complaining the film was going to be trash anyway. Apparently not realizing the film was a remake of director Stanley Kubrick's movie classic. Evidentally many film makers were propositioning the burgeoning young actress at this point with roles that contained more adult situations and whereby offended her delicate sensibilities. Natalie is still a teenager is unsure and/or uncomfortable with her own sexuality as an actress. She also turns down the role of Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet for similar reasons mainly because of the age difference between Natalie and Leonardo DiCaprio. Also she turned down the role of Wendy in "The Ice Storm" (1997) because she felt the material was "too dark." The role went to Christina Ricci, who has said she often gets the projects Natalie turns down. She is quoted "I would never be in a horror movie or any other "Jennifer Love Hewitt type" film."

Natalie decides to take a break from acting and concentrates instead on high school and academics instead. She lives as a relatively normal teenager in Syosset, NY where she was a straight-A student graduating from Highschool in 1999. Natalie blossoms into an incredibly intelligent young woman receiving honors in Highschool and then begins attending Harvard University pursuing a degree in Psychology. She says that her future in acting will become very selective due to her choice to pursue psychology as a working career. At this point she also rediscovers her successful stage career, returning to the theater appearing in such plays as "The Seagull" and turned down a film role in "The Horse Whisperer" (1998) to act in the play "The Diary of Anne Frank" to much critical acclaim.

Natalie became a leading lady essentially when she landed the role of Queen/Senator Amidala for "Star Wars Episode I" in 1999. A role that would have made almost anyone a star she becomes part of Star Wars lore. This helped her win roles in such films as "Where the Heart Is" (2000) and "Anywhere But Here". Originally she turned down the role of Ann August in the film "Anywhere But Here" (1999) because of the love scene between herself and Corbin Allred which required nudity. Susan Sarandon who had co-star approval, said she couldn't continue the movie without Portman, so the script was re-written without the scene and sent to Natalie, and she finally accepted it and production eventually continued.

Her next projects were Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), a small role in acclaimed "Cold Mountain" (2003), a starring role as the quirky girl Sam in "Garden State" (2004), and the yet to be released film "True" (2004). In 2004, she stunned audiences in the 2004 film "Closer", sporting an all star cast including Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Natalie does a 180 on her no sex/nudity stance and portrays a shady young woman and part-time stripper who begins an affair/love triangle over the next year, all become obsessed with hurting each other and wreak some heavy emotional damage for revenge on each other. The film has several hot nude scenes removed by the end of production, of course. She and the director apparently agreed that the scenes weren't intragrual to the story. She took home a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in "Closer" and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category for this role. So much for sex and violence in television and film being to much. Apparently the sexy young precocious actress is or was uncomfortable with audiences thinking of her as a sex symbol. This film contains an incredibly hot erotic lap dancescene that is amoung the best in movie history. In the final cut of the film Nat and the director agreed to cut out Nat's super hot nude scenes, must see DVD HERE

Trilingual Natalie speaks fluent Hebrew, English, Japanese and some Spanish and had aspirations of becoming a doctor in psychology, Natalie studied psychology at Harvard University and is currently studying at Hebrew at a University in Jerusalem. She still finds time to film "Free Zone" on location in Israel late in 2004. In 2005, she will also appear again as Senator Amidala/Padmé Naberrie-Skywalker in the third installment of the Star Wars prequel series, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. In this version Natalie will appear as the mother of Darth Vader's twins Luke and Leia and seems to be the best film in the new "Star Wars" films series with an emphasis on the Dark Side.

Her recent credits include soon be released in 2006 "V for Vendetta" where she shaves her head for her role in the upcoming movie. Other new flicks like "The Smoker" and "Paris, je t'aime" seem worthy of her talent. Often referred to as "the new Audrey Hepburn," Natalie surely has a bright film career ahead of her if she decides to remain an actress. It seems like she isn't going to walk away from her career at this point. She has been very busy in 2005 and was working many projects. She is clearly enjoying her life as the smart, sexy and very talented fresh young face in Hollywood. She also has choice of some of the best roles availible. Natalie will host SNL in march 2006.

FACTS

Was a member of the environmental song and dance troupe
The World Patrol Kids under her real name, Natalie Hershlag.

Before she was cast in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), she had never seen the original 3 Star Wars movies.

Was reportedly caught using a fake ID trying to sneak into the Roxy. The performer Moby insisted that she was invited by him and refused to perform unless she was admitted. She was admitted, and security watched her as she stood in the back, watched the show, and didn't drink.

Stated in an online interview that the story about sneaking into the Roxy to see Moby is not true, and that she and her friends went home after they were denied entrance.

Takes pride in the fact that she is a role model for girls and choses roles that are positive so that they will have a positive role model to look up to.

She and actor Bart DeFinna grew up in the same neighborhood. At the 2000 VH-1 Fashion awards they were asked to take a photo together and refused.

Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.

The make-up brand Stila has a lip gloss named after her.

As of June 2002, she has appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993), eight times.

Won the 2002 Teen's Choice Award for choice actress in an action/adventure film (Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002))

Voted the 15th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.

Received a Tony nomination for her role as Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank.

Has a passion for travel. In late 2003 and early 2004 she travelled alone to Morocco and Guatemala.

Favorite actor is Ben Kingsley.

As a young girl, she was an understudy for the lead character in the off-Broadway show, "Ruthless", alongside Britney Spears. They still keep in touch, and recently threw a party together in New York City.

Fashion designer Zac Posen refers to her as his "muse."

Both she and Sofia Coppola have played the daughter of a character played by Al Pacino, and also both appeared in a film featuring Pacino and Robert De Niro. Sofia Coppola was in all three Godfather films (had a speaking part in the 3rd only), and Portman was in Heat (1995). Portman and Coppola appeared together in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

Is close friends with Jake Gyllenhaal and Bryce Dallas Howard.

She is good friends with band Maroon 5.

Her comedic influences are Lily Tomlin and Diane Keaton. She said in an interview, "I love Lily Tomlin and I love Diane Keaton. They're sort of my heroes. Diane Keaton can do anything. She's just the best there is."

Has a song named after her by the band TeamSleep.

She and director Tom Tykwer became good friends after working together on True (2004).

Shares a birthday with Johnny Depp and Michael J. Fox.

Was considered for a role in Elizabethtown (2005).

Has a CD named after her by Chicago-based DJ Intel One. The CD was done for charity, given away, and titled "Love: A Tribute to Natalie Portman." It featured songs by Shelly Duval, Common, The Roots, and others.

Has a song named after her by the band Ozma.

She hesitantly shot an explicit nude scene for "Closer," in the scene where Alice (Portman) strips for Larry (Clive Owen). Ultimately, Portman and director Mike Nichols agreed not to use it, as the scene was effective enough without it.


QUOTES

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.

On Lolita (1997): "Let me tell you, this movie's going to be sleaze."

"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."

"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. Where as 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 and 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: "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".

"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'm sitting there and then I realised that it was a gay bar and my haircut was being very, er, shall we say 'appreciated' by quite a few of the girls there."

CONTACT

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