 Born: June 9, 1981 in Jerusalem, Israel
FULL BIOGRAPHY
With a major part in the most anticipated film of the 1990s, George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, repeated comparisons to Audrey Hepburn, and the drool of a thousand critics at her feet, Natalie Portman has emerged as one of the most promising actresses of her generation. Born in Jerusalem on June 9, 1981, to an artist mother and doctor father, Portman moved to New York when she was three.
Raised on Long Island, she was discovered by a modeling agent who signed her on the spot. Her modeling stint led to an audition for Luc Besson's Leon (or The Professional, as it was called in the United States). Due to her age (she was 12 when the film was cast), Portman was initially turned down for the lead role of Mathilda, a girl who asks a hit man (Jean Reno) to train her as an assassin to avenge her brother's death and falls in love with him in the process. However, she ultimately won the part and her 1994 film debut earned a number of positive notices. In interviews, Portman allowed that making her first film in the toughest sections of Spanish Harlem was frightening, but not quite so frightening, she claimed, as going back to school once shooting wrapped.
Portman then took on the role of Al Pacino's step-daughter in another demanding film, Michael Mann's Heat (1995). She followed this up with lighter fare as Jack Nicholson's daughter in Mars Attacks! (1996). Despite a triumph of casting (the ensemble also included Glenn Close, Annette Bening, and Rod Steiger) and the direction of the dependably original Tim Burton, the film was a critical and financial disappointment.
Portman emerged relatively unscathed, going on the same year to make Woody Allen's musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You. The film met with a decidedly happier fate among critics and filmgoers than her previous venture and Portman continued to ride high with the success of her third film of 1996, Beautiful Girls. For her performance as Marty, the precocious teen who nearly steals a much older Timothy Hutton away from his fiancée, Portman received adulation from a host of critics, some of whom stated that she was the best part of the whole movie.
After turning down title roles in both Lolita and William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Portman took on another title role with her 1997 Broadway debut in The Diary of Anne Frank. She stayed with the show until May 1998, during which time she received positive notices for her performance. After lending her voice to The Prince of Egypt (1998), Portman took on her most talked-about role to date, that of Queen Amidala in The Phantom Menace (1999).
Despite very mixed reviews, the film went into box-office hyperdrive, further propelling Portman toward her status as a rapidly emerging talent for the new millennium. The actress ended the 20th century with more positive reviews for her role as Susan Sarandon's moody daughter in Wayne Wang's Anywhere But Here and then, appropriately enough, kicked off the new century with her first more adult role in Where the Heart Is.
For her portrayal of the film's protagonist, who ages from 17 to 22 over the course of the story, Portman was required to do her first love scene, something she professed a distaste for in various interviews. Offscreen, she also did some growing up, enrolling for her college education at Harvard university.
A psychology major, Portman made it clear upon her enrollment that, aside from her role as Queen Amidala in the Star Wars films, she would not accept any film roles for the duration of her education. As of 2002 Portman had stayed true to her word, and her fans eager to see serious minded actress back onscreen would have to wait until that year's release of the much anticipated Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.
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FULL FILMOGRAPHY
2005 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Character played: Padme Amidala
2004 Closer Character played: Alice
2004 Hitler's Pawn Character played: Narrator
2003 Cold Mountain Characters played: Sarah, Sara
2002 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Character played: Padmé Amidala
2002 The Osbournes: What Goes Up Character played: Herself
2001 Zoolander Character played: Herself
2001 The Concert For New York City
2000 Where the Heart Is Character played: Novalee Nation
1999 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Character played: Queen Amidala / Padme Naberrie
1999 Anywhere But Here Character played: Ann August
1998 The Prince of Egypt Characters played: Additional voice (uncredited), Additional voice [uncredited]
1996 Mars Attacks! Character played: Taffy Dale
1996 Everyone Says I Love You Character played: Laura
1996 Beautiful Girls Character played: Marty
1995 Heat Character played: Lauren
1994 Léon Character played: Mathilda
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