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“I think it’s a great honor to win an Oscar, but I think if you aim to be rewarded in your life you’ll get nowhere. I think that the biggest reward is the work itself and what you get out of it and the connections you make with other people.” Natalie Portman’s acting career began at the early age of 12 with the filming of Leon: The Professional. After the filming of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in 1999, her career took on a lightning trajectory that includes 66 roles on television and film in addition to producing, writing, and even appearing on a few soundtracks.

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Among the films Portman is most famous for are The Star Wars prequel trilogy, Thor, Black Swan, Jackie, Closer, V for Vendetta, Miss Dior, and The Other Boleyn Girl. She also has several works on the horizon, including Dolphin Reef and Lucy in the Sky.

Portman has been nominated for 134 awards for her acting talents and abilities and has won 87 including an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a leading Role for Black Swan (2010); a Golden Globe for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for Black Swan (2010); a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Drama for Closer (2004); BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actress for Black Swan (2010); Saturn Award for Best Actress for her work in V for Vendetta (2005); and the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Actress in 2016 for Jackie and in 2010 for Black Swan.

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Who is Natalie Portman?

Natalie Portman, born Neta-Lee Hershlag, was born in Jerusalem, Israel and is the only child of Israeli-born doctor, Avner-Hershlag and American-born artist, Shelley Stevens. Both parents are of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Her family moved to Washington, D.C. while Portman was young. They moved around a few times during her childhood before settling in New York.

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Having graduated from Syosset High School in Long Island with honors, Portman went on to attend Harvard University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. She then took graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and served as a guest lecturer at Columbia University, teaching a course on terrorism and counter terrorism.

Portman has an affinity for languages and was once spoke of her love for the Hebrew language, saying, “I speak fluent Hebrew and even dream in Hebrew when we visit there, once or twice a year.” Aside from Hebrew and English, Portman has studied French, Japanese, Arabic, and German languages.

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Portman is actively involved in numerous social and political causes. She is a huge advocate for animal rights, practicing a vegan lifestyle and has won several awards resulting from her advocacy for animals and the planet. Additionally, she supports humanitarian and anti-poverty causes, serving as an Ambassador for Hope for FINCA International to benefit women and children in third-world countries through micro-lending and financing women-owned businesses in these countries.

Additionally, Portman has been very critical of the prevailing sexualization of women, especially young women, in Hollywood, relating that her first piece of fan mail, after filming Leon: The Professional, turned out to be an explicit rape fantasy and how a local radio station actually hosted a “countdown” to her 18^th birthday and how that affected her view of the world. She stated: “I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually, I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort.”

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Her discovery affected the roles she chose to play and how she chose to portray herself in public and in film. She did go on, in a later interview to say that “It’s horrible to be a sex object at any age, but at least when you’re an adult you can make the decision if you want to degrade yourself.”

Portman married her husband, Benjamin Millepied, a dancer and choreographer from France, in 2012, and they now have two children together, a son and a daughter. Portman and her husband met while working on the set of Black Swan. Millepied was the choreographer for the dark drama where their romance bloomed.

What’s Next for Natalie Portman?

While busy raising two children, Natalie remains active with social and political causes important to her at home, in Israel, and around the world. She also continues to make movies, film documentaries and constantly attempts to create a better world for her children. “When you get older, you realize it’s a lot less about your place in the world but your place in you. It’s not how everyone views you, but how you view yourself.”