Cover Story - Natalie Portman

"Storytelling is our way of developing empathy and practicing empathy. When we care about characters when we’re watching a movie or reading a book, it’s the practice of empathy.”

Of fables and fantasy

NATALIE PORTMAN IS A MODERN DAY SUPERHERO, MUM AND NOW, AUTHOR.

We’ve watched her grow up, evolve as an actress and play some of the most moving characters on the silver screen, as a Senator, swan and soon, superhero with a particularly poignant secret.

Her diverse roles in blockbusters and independent films over the past 28 years have earned her multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.

Natalie Portman, actor, director and most recently, author, is at heart a storyteller, who says her passion for acting stems from her the human urge to “develop empathy and practise empathy”.

Born Natalie Hershlag in Jerusalem to an American mother and Israeli father, she moved with her family to the US in 1984 settling in Syosset, Long Island, New York where her father established a fertility medicine practice.

As often happens in the Big Apple, she was approached by a modelling agent in a pizza restaurant, which she turned down, but did engage an agent and pursue her interest in acting with several auditions in off-Broadway shows. Mathilda in Luc Besson’s 1994 film, “Léon: The Professional”. She adopted her maternal grandmother’s maiden name in an effort to protect herself from unwanted attention as a result of the some of the film’s themes, which she later criticised for their sexualisation of the young French orphan. She told the entertainment media she experienced “sexual terrorism” after the film’s release, and that in the #MeToo era, “no one would make a film like Léon today”.

While still at high school, she made her Broadway debut in a 1998 production of “Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl and then went on to international stardom when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).

Focused on her education, and keen for a taste of the real world beyond acting, Portman attended Harvard University and completed a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, concurrently acting on stage and film – in Anton Chekhov's play The Seagull (2001) and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002, 2005).

Continuing her education, gaining a degree and all the experiences that entails, were important to Portman, especially as an actor, as she told Business Insider magazine.

“Going to college was amazing for me, mainly in terms of giving me a group of friends that are so interesting, and from such different backgrounds, and such different interests and went into different careers. “We’ve been in each other’s lives now for 20 years and our kids are in each other’s lives. It’s just a remarkable gift because it is the first time in your life that you’re exposed to people outside your neighbourhood, and in a real meaningful, deep way.

“That was really wonderful and reaffirmed my decision to be an actress for sure, because I think I had questioned it a lot and the seriousness of it and what it meant. I realised how much I loved it and how much I wanted to do it and how much I felt storytelling had meaning, which is related to the book as well. Storytelling is our way of developing empathy and practicing empathy. When we care about characters when we’re watching a movie or reading a book, it’s the practice of empathy.”

Her career progressed with her starring roles as “V for Vendetta” (2005), Anne Boleyn in “The Other Boleyn Girl” (2008), and a troubled ballerina in the psychological thriller, “Black Swan” (2010), which emerged as a sleeper hit, grossing over US$329 million worldwide against a US$13 million budget, and earned Portman several coveted awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She went on to star in the biopic about Jacqueline Kennedy in “Jackie” (2016), which earned her a third Academy Award nomination, and perhaps her most surprising role, as Jane Foster in the Marvel Cinematic

Universe superhero films starring Chris Hemsworth, “Thor” (2011) and “Thor: The Dark World” (2013), which established her among the world’s highest-paid actresses.

And now fans are poised to see Portman reprise the role in “Thor; Love and Thunder”, directed by Taika Waititi and filmed in Australia.

In an interview with Disney's D23 Magazine, Portman spoke of her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and discussed the dark secrets Jane Foster is hiding in this episode.

“I was so excited by what Taika, Chris [Hemsworth], and Tessa [Thompson] did in Ragnarok, ‘Love and Thunder’ seemed like a great opportunity to revisit the character and see her expand as a Superhero herself.”

Astrophysicist and Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster is secretly struggling with a terrible hardship which she can only overcome when wielding Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. In the interview, Portman said the idea of playing someone “who is as weak as she is strong” held particular appeal.

“There is a superhero inside of every human who is forced to face a threat head-on,” she noted.

Off screen, Portman is married to dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied and is devoted mum to two children, the source of inspiration for her recently published children’s book, “Natalie Portman’s Fables”, a reinterpretation of several classics, illustrated by Janna Matti.

As she explained at the launch in February, “These classic tales have great messages (hard work pays off, perseverance and grit win over hubris and haste, abundance can be dangerous), but I hope they just feel like great stories we want to read again and again, the way I do with my children’s favourites.”

She continued: “I chose these three fables, which are The Tortoise and The Hare, The Three Little Pigs, and Country Mouse and City Mouse were because they were the ones that I felt had really relevant lessons, still.”

“The Tortoise and The Hare, for me, is so much about paying attention, not trying to rush through everything. I think it is more resonant than ever because the world feels so fast and noisy with so much going on and the true meaning seems completely founded in attention and in taking time.”

“The beautiful thing about children’s books is that the children get the message of the story, but so do the parents, while reading it out loud to them over, and over, and over again every night. I like to read the things that enrich me too when I read to my kids at night.”

“The Three Little Pigs is about building strong foundations. I thought that was really relevant now with the environment, because of course we have to be so conscious of how we’re building strong foundations that we need to think about now.”

“And then City Mouse and Country Mouse is a timeless fable about real fulfillment versus superficiality. The superficial charms of the city don’t compare to true friendship, which is what’s valuable. They all felt like things that I cared about, wanted my kids to value and that I’d love them to have in their lives.”