Natalie Portman, star of Léon, V for Vendetta and The Other Boleyn Girl chats about Star Wars, the fame game and why she’s missed her opportunity to be immature in public
Text Gaynor Flynn
Image Pascal Perich/Corbis
Maybe it’s because she’s not blonde. Or because she attended Harvard University and got a degree in psychology. Whatever the reason, Natalie Portman has always enjoyed a reputation for being a lot more than just a pretty face. We met up with the animal-loving actress to find out how she’s managed to keep her head screwed on and her feet on the ground in Hollywood.
You started acting at a very young age. Do you feel you missed out on a ‘normal’ childhood?
When you’re a kid actor, you get applauded a lot for being really grown up, so you act really grown up all the time. There’s definitely that side where I’m like: “Oh, I should have enjoyed being immature when it was acceptable.” Now it’s too late, no one will think it’s cute any more. But I also gained things from that experience. I was travelling to Japan when I was 12 years old, which none of my classmates got to do.
How did being cast in the Star Wars prequel trilogy affect you?
Fame was so different. I feel like a grandmother talking about it, but it wasn’t so long ago that it was really different. I was in Star Wars and I was going to a public high school and no one bothered me – you can’t find a single picture of me in my private life when I was a teenager. I was out going to parties and clubbing and doing stupid things, but it was all private. It was a different time and it’s crazy that it was such a short time ago – just 10 years ago, not even. And I went through four years of college and there’s not a single paparazzi picture of me. Maybe I was just lucky, but it was also before all of these websites… That whole gossip industry just didn’t exist until a few years ago, so I feel really lucky. Because if I was that age now, and doing the kind of work I was doing, I don’t think I’d be afforded that level of privacy.
When you were just starting out in the business, did you have certain dreams – and did they come true?
Many of them did, yes. The fact that I’m still able to work now was a dream. People were like: “Oh, child stars! Good luck. You grow up and then: good luck getting work.” So that’s a dream. But my dreams aren’t all fulfilled because I’ve got a long way to go. I’m only 26, so I have a lot more I want to do.
You’ve recently designed a range of shoes. Was that one of your dreams?
I couldn’t find shoes I liked because I didn’t want to wear any animal products. I never wanted to be a shoe designer – it was never, ever something I thought about – but I just thought, if they don’t exist, we should make them. I’m not making money off of it. All of my proceeds are going to animal charities. I’ve found it interesting, though. There’s a whole other world surrounding the designing of shoes and marketing them and so on.
Would you ever like to move into fashion design?
I don’t think so. I don’t think I have a particular talent for it and it’s not really my thing. And I have no problem finding the clothes that I like. There are plenty of clothes out there that I like.
So you don’t wear leather?
No, and even when I’m working I don’t wear any animal products. Luckily, everyone I’ve ever worked with has been very obliging about that.
You recently joined wildlife expert Jack Hanna in Rwanda and got to hang out with endangered mountain gorillas at the Volcanoes National Park for the documentary Saving a Species: Gorillas on the Brink. What is your best memory of that trip?
I got to name a baby gorilla at a big ceremony, which was an honour. I named mine Gukina, which means ‘to play’. All the babies were so playful.
The Other Boleyn Girl explores the idea of having a relationship for the sake of a career. What’s your take on that?
That I should get into a relationship with a producer? [Laughs.] No. So many things resonate today about the issues of women’s choices in the movie. They’re forced into the position of either sleeping with someone or marrying someone to get power and position. But today some women choose to do it – they’re not forced into it. Although, you could say they’ve been forced into it because that might be their best option, which is sad. For example, they say the only professions in which women make more money than men are prostitution and modelling. You can understand why women make the choices they do if those are their best options.
Should women rule the world?
I don’t really think it has to do with gender, I think it has to do with humanity. I don’t think women are better than men. There are good women and bad women and I think idealising them is sexist. This stereotype that says all women are good takes away from the variety and the possibility of women to be anything: good, bad, smart, stupid, weak, strong… There is all of this variety in people and making women out to be one thing – that’s sexist as well.
Do you plan to act for the rest of your life or are you just doing if for now?
I love acting, but I love other things too and I don’t want to limit myself. I don’t really feel like I’m at a point in my life where I could say “forever” or “never” about anything. But I’m very committed to it right now and I love what I do.
You were a student at Harvard. Was it important to you to have that normal aspect of life?
It was very important. Mind you, I always think of Hollywood as ‘normal’ people and Harvard is ‘extraordinary’ people, because everyone I know from school is just amazing in whatever they do. They’re just the best of the best in every field.
In what way?
Lots of the people I went to school with are more successful in their own fields than most… It’s not exactly a community of your average guy. I learned a lot.
Having studied psychology, do you find yourself analysing characters more than other actors or do you just go in and play them?
I think every actor probably has their own process, but it definitely affects the way I think about it. I’ve been trained to look at people’s behaviour and there are certainly particular complexes and stuff that I attribute to certain characters.
Do you think that you will one day become a psychologist?
No, I think it would be pretty weird if I was sitting in an office and a patient came in. It would be like an actress playing your psychologist!
FR Un bel esprit
Peut-être est-ce parce qu’elle n’est pas blonde.
Ou parce qu’elle a fréquenté Harvard et obtenu un diplôme en psychologie. Quoiqu’il en soit, Natalie Portman a toujours eu la réputation d’être beaucoup plus qu’un joli minois. Nous avons rencontré cette actrice amoureuse des animaux.
Vous avez commencé à jouer très jeune. Cela vous a-t-il manqué d’avoir une enfance normale?
Quand vous êtes une actrice précoce, on vous applaudit pour votre comportement adulte, alors vous jouez constamment au grand. J’aurais dû accepter de donner libre cours à mon côté enfantin lorsque cela était possible, mais aujourd’hui c’est trop tard!
A quel point vous a marqué votre rôle dans la seconde Trilogie de Star Wars?
J’étais étudiante à la fac et personne ne venait m’ennuyer. Toute cette industrie de la presse ‘à ragots’ n’existait pas. Aujourd’hui, au même âge, et dans les mêmes circonstances, je ne crois pas que je bénéficierais du même respect de ma vie privée.
Vous êtes allée récemment au Rwanda pour filmer un documentaire sur les gorilles. Quel est votre meilleur souvenir de ce film?
J’ai dû donner un nom à un bébé gorille, ce qui était un honneur. Je l’ai prénommé Gukina, ce qui signifie ‘jouer’.
The Other Boleyn Girl (Deus sœurs pour un roi) questionne le fait d’avoir une relation pour réaliser ses ambitions. Quelle est votre position sur ce point?
On entend souvent dire que les seules professions dans lesquelles les femmes gagnent le plus d’argent sont la prostitution et le maquinat, vous comprenez alors pourquoi les femmes font certains choix.
Les femmes devraient-elles gouverner le monde?
Je ne crois pas que ce soit une question de genre – mais plutôt d’humanité. Établir un stéréotype selon lequel toutes les femmes sont fondamentalement bonnes leur enlève toute possibilité d’avoir une personnalité et d’être bonne, mauvaise, intelligente, stupide…
Vous avez étudié la psychologie à Harvard. Des projets pour devenir psychologue?
Non, ce serait vraiment bizarre d’être assise derrière un bureau et de voir quelqu’un entrer, ce serait pour moi comme jouer un rôle…de psychologue!
NL Een knap kopje
Misschien is het omdat ze niet blond is. Of omdat ze naar de universiteit van Harvard ging en een diploma psychologie behaalde. Hoe dan ook: Natalie Portman is altijd meer geweest dan een leuk snoetje. Wij mochten enkele woorden wisselen met de actrice en dierenvriend.
Je begon al op jonge leeftijd te acteren. Had je niet liever een ‘normale’ jeugd gehad?
Als kindsterretje word je geloofd omdat je zo volwassen bent. Dus doe je ook de hele tijd alsof. Ik had van mijn onvolwassenheid moeten genieten toen dat nog mocht. Nu is het te laat!
Hoe heeft je rol in de trilogie Star Wars je leven veranderd?
Ik ging naar de middelbare school en niemand viel me lastig. Die hele roddelindustrie bestond nog niet. Als ik nu die leeftijd had en dat werk deed, zou ik waarschijnlijk niet zo veel privacy hebben gekregen.
Je trok onlangs naar Rwanda om een documentaire over gorilla’s op te nemen. Wat is je mooiste herinnering aan die reis?
Ik mocht een naam kiezen voor een babygorilla, wat ik een hele eer vond. Ik noemde de mijne Gukina, wat ‘spelen’ betekent.
The Other Boleyn Girl belicht de idee van een relatie ten dienste van een carrière. Wat is jouw visie daarop?
Wanneer je weet dat vrouwen enkel in de prostitutie en het modellenwereldje meer verdienen dan mannen, begrijp je waarom vrouwen bepaalde keuzes maken.
Moet de wereld geleid worden door vrouwen?
Dat heeft volgens mij niets met geslacht maar alles met menselijkheid te maken. Als je zegt dat alle vrouwen goed zijn, ontken je de mogelijkheid dat vrouwen wat dan ook kunnen zijn: goed, slecht, slim, dom, …
Je studeerde psychologie aan Harvard. Heb je plannen in die richting?
Neen. Stel je voor dat ik in mijn praktijk zit, en er komt iemand binnen … Het zou zijn alsof een actrice je psycholoog speelt!
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