Natalie Portman

Natalie Hershlag (born June 9 1981 in Jerusalem, Israel), better known under her stage name Natalie Portman, is an Israeli-American actress.

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Natalie Portman

Early life background

Her professional last name of "Portman" is in fact her maternal grandmother's maiden name. It is rumoured that she first adopted it in case her perfomance in Léon would discredit her family. Natalie's paternal family are Israeli descendants of Jewish immigrants from Poland, while her American mother's family is descended from Jewish refugees from Austria and Russia. [1] When Natalie was three years old her family moved from Israel to the United States, first Washington D.C. in 1984, then Connecticut in 1988, before finally settling down in Long Island, New York in 1990.

Professional life

Portman was discovered in a pizza parlour at the age of eleven by an agent for Revlon, who offered an opportunity to model. Soon she was introduced to acting talent scouts and made her movie début at the age of twelve playing a child who befriends a much older assassin in Luc Besson's movie classic Léon (aka The Professional).

During her teen years Portman played a significant role in the ensemble cast of Beautiful Girls and had a minor role in Everyone Says I Love You. She was one of many celebrities who played themselves in the comedy Zoolander. Portman was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999 for her role as Ann August in Anywhere But Here.

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Natalie Portman in Star Wars

While pursuing her bachelor's degree in psychology at Harvard she appeared in the Star Wars prequel trilogy of movies, which were filmed during her summer break from university. Among Star Wars fans she is known for playing the role of Padmé Amidala in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

After graduating from Harvard in 2003 Natalie had a small role as a young war widow in the Oscar-winning movie Cold Mountain. That was followed in 2004 by starring roles in the successful independent movies Garden State and Closer, winning a Supporting Actress Golden Globe for her role as Alice in Closer. She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same role.

Portman shaved her head for the film adaption of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, set for release in early 2006. In it she plays Evey Hammond, the young woman the main character, V, saves from the secret police. With her new look Portman appeared as a presenter at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia in July 2005.

Personal life

Education

Portman graduated Syosset High School in Syosset, New York; June of 1999 and was a straight-A honors student. After high school she continued to maintain straight-A's through her time at Harvard where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology June 5 2003. She is credited as a research assistant to Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz's Case For Israel. As of 2005 Portman is pursuing graduate studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.

In addition to her native Hebrew and English, Portman can also speak (to some degree) French, German, Japanese, and even a little Spanish, and she is learning right now to speak Arabic,

Ideology

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Campaigning for John Kerry in 2004

Portman has been a vegetarian since she was eight years old. Portman spends some of her free time involved in causes such as financing small-scale women's projects in Africa and the Democrats' 2004 U.S. presidential campaign.

Controversy

Portman was interviewed for the August 2004 issue of Allure magazine; in that article, she was quoted as saying "Oh my God! I'm not black, but I know what it feels like!" This prompted her to follow up with a apology letter to their editor.

On February 23, 2005, Israeli police chased her away from Jerusalem's Western Wall after protests by religious Jews who were praying at the holy site. She and the Israeli actor Aki Avni were kissing next to the Wall for a movie called Free Zone. This was deemed to be immodest for the holy site. Men who were praying heckled the couple until police stepped in and suggested they return later. The site is under the authority of Orthodox Judaism, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who is responsible for the site, said the actors' conduct violated the code of conduct. [2]

It was reported on July 8, 2005, that Natalie Portman was stopped driving by the NYPD in a transit tunnel underneath New York City for looking unusual and having expired registration and inspection stickers. She had a shaven head from just filming V for Vendetta, and have just arrived back in the United States. The policeman told her not to drive in the tunnel, but on one of the bridges.