Natalie Portman

last update 2007-04-24
add pics of Natalie Portman

The daughter of a doctor, Natalie Portman (born Hershlag) was born on June 9, 1981. She left Jerusalem at the age of three to go live with her family in the USA, first to Connecticut then Long Island. She was spotted in a pizzeria by an modelling agent, she began appearing on the runways before at the age of 12 getting the main female role of Leon: The Professional by Luc Besson, in which she starres along the "hitman" Jean Reno. Not only brilliant ( she studied psychology at Harvard), Natalie Portman finds time to work with the biggest: step-daughter of Al Pacino in "Heat" by Michael Mann, daughter of President of USA Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks! by Burton in 1996. She sang the same year in front of the camera for Woody Allen (Everyone says I love you). Nevertheless, this actress is demanding and refused number of projects, like Lolita or Romeo + Juliet. In 1998, her performance in The Diary of Anne Frank on Broadway has not gone unnoticed. In 1999, Natalie Portman makes a comeback on the screen in Star Wars - The Phantom Menace. Her character, Amidala, queen then Senator which Anakin Skywalker falls in love with, also appeared in Episodes 2 and 3 of the cult saga by George Lucas. Looking at her portrayal of a heroin in a 2006 SF ilm V for Vendetta, one can see the actress is equally at ease in contemporary works as in romantic ones, like Garden State, the independent hit by Zach Braff or Closer by Mike Nichols (role of a stripper earned hier an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Role in 2005), or even bitter Free Zone, shot in Israel by the Gitaï. She was a partner to Scarlett Johansson in the film The Other Boleyn Girl, played in Goya's Ghosts for Milos Forman. She's one of the icons of America imagined by Wong Kar-Wai in My Blueberry Nights before opening the door of the Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2008), a movie balancing between dream and reality.