Natalie Portman Biography

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Natalie Portman is an Israeli-American actress. A Harvard alumnus, she is known for her roles in the Star Wars Prequels, Garden State, and V For Vendetta. Portman won an Oscar for Best Actress in Black Swan, and has been nominated for two Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress.

Early Life

Natalie Hershlag was born on June 9th 1981 in Jerusalem, Israel. Her father, Avner Hershlag, is an Israeli doctor who specializes in fertility and reproduction. At the age of three she moved with her parents to Washington, DC for a short time before moving to Syosset, New York. From the age of four and onward Natalie took dancing lessons and performed in various troupes, during her summer months while away from school she would spend the majority of the time away at theater camps. At the age of 10 she auditioned for Ruthless! a play about a girl who is prepared to commit murder to get the lead in a school play, the central role of Tina was played by future Broadway actress Laura Bell Bundy, and featured Portman and Britney Spears as understudies. The musical opened off-broadway at the Players Theatre on March 13, 1992 and closed on January 24, 1993 after 342 performances. 
    
    

Career

The Professional
The Professional
In 1994 Natalie Portman auditioned for the role of a child who befriends a middle-aged hitman in Leon (The Professional). After accepting the role Natalie took her grandmother's maiden name "Portman" as her stage name, in the interest of privacy. In the same year, Portman also portrayed a young girl named Nina in the short film "Developing" the film documented the relationship between a single mother who has breast cancer and her young daughter. She followed up these roles in the film Heat where she plays Al Pacino's neurotic daughter. 
 
In 1996 Portman had a major role in the film Beautiful Girls as Marty who in the film attempts to further a relationship with Willie Conway who is portrayed by Timothy Hutton, while considered to be relatively young in comparison with Willie Marty describes herself as an "old soul" in the same year she also had parts in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You and Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! 
 
In 1999 Portman potrayed Ann August in the film Anywhere but Here who in the film, is the daughter of Adele August who is the central character of the film and is portrayed by Susan Sarandon. The films follows Adele who moves to Beverly Hills from a small Wisconsin town. While in Beverly Hills Adele pushes Ann to become an actress, but wishes to pursue her education at Brown University. Originally, the script featured a sex scene involving Portman who initially turned down the role because of it. After the director Wayne Wang demanded a rewrite the scene was removed and Portman accepted the role. Portman was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress. During this period of time, Portman was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars Trilogy Prequel and as a teenage mother in the film Where the Heart Is. 

After she finished filming Where the Heart Is, Portman moved into the Harvard University dorms and claimed that with the exception of the Star Wars Prequels she would not be acting until she graduated. She eventually graduated in June of 2003 with a bachelors degree in Psychology. Despite claiming that she was taking a break from studying, Portman managed to make appearances in the 2001 film Zoolander and also had a small role in Cold Mountain. She also performed in a production of Chekhov's The Seagull which was directed by Mike Nichols and open at the New York City's Public Theater in July of 2001. 

Garden State
Garden State
In 2004 Portman stared in two independent films, Garden State and Closer. The former of which Portman stared along side writer and director Zach Braff. The film went on to be a selection of the Sundance Film Festival and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Portman was nominated again as best Supporting Actress by the Golden Globes for her performance as Alice in Closer. The final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, was released on May 19, 2005. The film was the highest grossing domestic film in 2005. She also filmed Free Zone and Goya's Ghost, Free Zone saw a very limited release in the United States, it premiered in April of 2006. Goya's Ghost featured her first nude scene. 

 
 
 In 2006 Portman stared in the film adaptation of V for Vendetta  directed by James McTeigue who met Portman on the set of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. In the same year she also filmed Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium as well as The Other Boleyn Girl, Portman stared alongside Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson. In 2008 she stared in a short film directed by Wes Anderson entitled Hotel Chevalier, which featured her second nude scene.  In 2009 she stared in a remake of Brothers, Danish Film that premiered in 2004 under the same name. She stared alongside Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal 

Black Swan
Black Swan
Her most recent role in Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky has garnered her a significant amount of praise for her as she has been nominated for over 20 awards for Best Actress. Portman is also playing Jane Foster in the upcoming Thor film and is producing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Other Appearances 

     
  • SNL Digital Short "Natalie Raps"
    SNL Digital Short "Natalie Raps"
    On Saturday - March 4, 2006 Natalie Portman hosted Saturday Night Live. She appeared in several different skits, most notably an SNL Digital Short called "Natalie Raps" where in which she portrays an angry rapper. The song would later be featured on The Lonely Island's Incredibad album in 2009. 
  • In 2006 she made a guest appearance during the 18th season of the Simpson's in the episode entitled "Little Big Girl" Portman  voiced Bart Simpson's girlfriend  Darcy 
  • Portman also appears in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" which was directed by Michel Gondry. 
  • In 2008 Portman directed a short film which debuted at the Venice Film Festival, the film was titled "Eve" the film focuses on an older generation and deals with themes like love and romance 
  • In 2009 Portman was a guest judge on Top Chef     

5 AWARD NOMINATIONS

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General Information Edit
Credited Name Natalie Portman
Gender Female
Birthday June 9, 1981
Death
Primary Role Actor
Hometown Jerusalem
Country Israel
Website
Email Address
Alias(es) Natalie Hershlag
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