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[h3]Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem to Anver Hershlag, a fertility specialist, and Shelley Stevens; an artist by hobby not profession. Portman’s parents had met at a Jewish student centre at Ohio State University and when Anver returned to Israel, the two kept in touch and eventually married.[/h3]

Portman’s family background perhaps plays a significant part in her life values; being closely linked to significant historical events. Anver’s family members are descendants of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Romania. His grandfather’s parents died in Auschwitz and great-grandmother was a spy for the British during World War II.

When Portman was three years old the family relocated from Israel to Washington DC before eventually settling in New York in 1990 where she would remain for the rest of her childhood.

Having danced from an early age, Portman performed in many local shows and harboured an ambition of one day being on stage on Broadway. Aged 12, she was spotted in a pizza parlour by a Revlon agent who saw her potential as a model – a break which soon led to her introduction to various acting scouts.

Portman had always spent school holidays at popular theatre camps such as Stagedoor Manor, where she had the opportunity to test her skills in camp productions such as the lead in Anne of Green Gables and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. By 1993 her dream was realised and she was offered her first professional role as an understudy in the musical, Ruthless!

Her next role would really catapult her into the spotlight when she asked to audition for Luc Besson’s latest project, Leon, in 1994. Initially she was turned down for the role due to her age but finally won the chance to play the part of Mathilda, a young girl in New York who witnesses her family murdered by a bent cop played magnificently by Gary Oldman. She manages to escape to the apartment of Jean Reno’s assassin character and the two become firm friends. The film was a huge international hit but did encounter criticism in some quarters for being Lolita-esque, despite there being no link in the plot to this other than Portman’s age.

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By the time Portman has debuted in her first on-screen role with Leon, she had made the decision to take her grandmother’s maiden name as a stage surname, although the Director’s Cut of the film does still credit her as Natalie Herschlag.

Following the success of Leon, Portman’s profile was raised significantly leading to a small role in the big budget action film Heat (1995) alongside A-list actors such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer. Director Michael Mann was later said to comment that Portman was “a prodigy.”

Portman next went on to star in Woody Allen’s comedy-musical Everyone Says I Love You and [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/820:0/Tim_Burton.htm]Tim Burton’s [/urlnew]Mars Attacks in 1996. In the same year, Portman was contacted out of the blue by casting director Robin Gurland to ask if she would be interested in playing the female lead in the new Star Wars trilogy. Portman was only 14 at this point and having never seen the original Star Wars films was hesitant to commit to a part that would entail filming across an entire decade. After meeting George Lucas and producer Rick McCallum she realised what an opportunity she was being given and agreed to sign to the films to play Queen Padmé Amidala.

Portman’s Broadway dream came to fruition later into 1996 when she pulled out of the film The Horse Whisperer to play the role of Anne Frank in the revival of The Diary of Anne Frank, and by mid-1997 production begun on the first of the [urlnew=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_home/1036:0/Star_Wars_Empire_of_Dreams.htm]Star Wars [/urlnew]films, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Having always been adamant that her education wasn’t to suffer because of her acting, Portman returned to complete her junior year in high school while simultaneously performing eight shows a week on Broadway as Anne Frank.

Portman’s next role in the film Anywhere But Here (1999) encountered initial problems because Portman turned down the script after reading that her character was involved in a sex scene. Co-star Susan Sarandon and Director Wayne Wang were so determined to have her on board that they demanded a re-write of the script which eventually led to Portman’s agreement to join the project. Her decision to take the part came to fruition when she was nominated for her first Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.

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In 1999, The Phantom Menace opened to become the highest grossing film of the year and the second highest grossing film of the entire Star Wars series to date. Portman was instantly propelled into international stardom.

As soon as she finished filming the part of Ann August in Where The Heart Is (1999), Portman returned to her studies and was quoted as saying at the time, "I'm going to college. I don't care if it ruins my career. I'd rather be smart than a movie star".

She moved into the dorms of Harvard University to continue her Bachelor’s degree in psychology and said in an interview that with the exception of the Star Wars prequels to which she was obviously already committed, she would not act for the next four years so she could concentrate on her education.

Portman’s education track record was envious. She typically gained ‘A’ grades and was adamant that despite being internationally famed as a film star, she would benefit far more in the long-run from having a decent education and degree having often commented that she didn’t find acting intellectually challenging enough. Not only concentrating on her degree work, Portman also studied and can speak French, Japanese and German in addition to Hebrew and English.

Despite focusing on her education, Portman did undertake a few smaller projects during her time at Harvard. In 2001, she starred as Nina in Chekhov’s The Seagull at New York City’s Public Theatre alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The second Star Wars film, Attack of the Clones also started filming in Sydney. Portman was also cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain (2003) alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.

In 2004, Portman opted to act in two small independent films, Garden State and Closer. Garden State won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards, was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and was a huge indie hit, taking ten times its $2.5 million budget at the box office.

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The role of Alice in Closer reunited Portman with Seagull director Mike Nichols. The part was Portman’s first overtly sexual role, playing a stripper in a relationship with Jude Law’s writer character. Eventually betrayed by Law after he leaves her for Julia Robert’s playing a photographer, Portman strikes a bond with Robert’s dumped beau (Clive Owen) in her strip club. Portman’s dramatic portrayal went on to earn her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actress.

2005 marked the end of the chapter in regards to the Star Wars prequel trilogy when Revenge of the Sith was released throughout the world on May 19th. Unsurprisingly the final film was eagerly anticipated and was the highest grossing film of the year. In the same year, Portman filmed Free Zone in Israel and Jordan. The film had limited US release but was clearly a project close to Portman’s heart due to her family’s heritage and background.

With the commitment of the Star Wars films at an end, Portman was able to freely shave her head for her role as Evey Hammond in the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta. She first appeared in public with her radical new hair style at the premieres of Revenge of the Sith and the media went into a frenzy as to why she’d made such a drastic change to her appearance- a clever way to inspire publicity for V for Vendetta.

The film sparked quiet controversy when it emerged in the press that it contained a scene involving a bomb on a London Underground train. It was inferred that it was perhaps a little too soon to the July 7th 2005 London terror attack to be released. Nevertheless, the film was a success and Portman defended the outrage by commenting “being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little. Although the film doesn’t make clear good or bad statements, it respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion.”

Since the release of V for Vendetta, Portman has only been ‘seen’ as a guest part in The Simpsons and two small budget films, Paris je t’aime and Goya’s Ghosts. Portman has recently finished filming The Other Boleyn Girl alongside Scarlet Johansson, which will no doubt earn her further repute as one of the finest actresses of her generation.

Natalie Portman biography



Portman has been a vegetarian since the age of eight.

Natalie was born on her mother Shelley’s 29th birthday.

Portman has a song named after her by the band TeamSleep.

As the first day of Cold Mountain filming fell on Halloween, Portman came to set in costume as Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz only to realize she was the only one who'd dressed up.

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

Portman was the first choice to play Juliet in Romeo & Juliet (1996) movie but she turned it down because of the scenes, and the age difference between her and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Keira Knightley doubled for Portman's character Queen Amidala in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace as handmaiden Sabé.
Natalie Portman biography



The Simpsons (2007)

Goya's Ghosts (2006)

Paris, je t'aime (2006)

V for Vendetta (2005)

Free Zone (2005)

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Domino One (2005)

Closer (2004)

True (2004)

Garden State (2004)

Cold Mountain (2003)

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Where the Heart Is (2000)

Anywhere But Here (1999)

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Everyone Says I Love You (1996)

Beautiful Girls (1996)

Heat (1995)

Léon (1994)
Natalie Portman biography

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