Natalie Portman learned early that Hollywood could turn a young actress into a sexualised image before she was old enough to control the narrative. Her response was to build a carefully managed public persona, one that followed her long after childhood.
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, the Oscar-winning actress reflected on how the attention surrounding her early roles prompted her to present herself as serious, modest and academically focused. Films including Léon: The Professional, Heat and Beautiful Girls brought her into the spotlight at a young age, but Portman and her parents made a conscious effort to keep her public image separate from the characters she played.
“I wanted to be like, ‘No, I’m serious, I’m a good girl, I’m a prude, I’m smart, I’m a student,’” she explained, describing the approach as a form of protection against being portrayed as a sexualised figure.
The strategy had consequences of its own. As her career developed, Portman became associated with intense, demanding performances, including her Oscar-winning role in Black Swan and her nominated turn in Jackie. Audiences began to assume the actress was just as serious off-screen.
“I’m very silly, and I love to laugh more than anything, and I love to goof off,” she said, pushing back against the perfectionist reputation that followed Black Swan.
These days, Portman says she is more interested in bringing joy to audiences. With the world seemingly saturated with difficult news and heavy subjects, she believes entertainment has a meaningful role to play in offering people some relief.
That shift in perspective comes alongside a new chapter in her personal life. Portman recently welcomed her third child with partner Tanguy Destable. She also shares two children, Aleph and Amalia, with her former husband, Benjamin Millepied, whom she divorced in 2024 after 11 years of marriage.
Speaking about life with her newborn, Portman said she was experiencing a renewed sense of wonder while looking at her older children, too, struck by how quickly they had grown into individuals with personalities, humour and ideas of their own.
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Last modified: October 30, 2026
