Natalie Portman Biography

Natalie Portman Biography starts with the birth of Natalie Hershlag in Israel on June 9, 1981. Her parents immigrated to the US when Natalie was a toddler. Natalie made her big screen debut at the age of 13 in the film ‘The Professional’. Her acting skills were applauded by audiences and critics alike. Natalie Portman biography moves to the next phase when she started her acting career in earnest and adopted the stage name ‘Portman’ to protect her family’s privacy. She continued to build up her career with movies like ‘Heat’, ‘Everyone Says I Love You’, ‘Mars Attacks!’ and ‘Beautiful Girls’. The 1999 movie, ‘Anywhere but Here’ got Natalie a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 2000, after the release of her movie ‘Where the Heart Is’, Natalie took a three year break from movies to graduate from Harvard University in psychology. In 2004, she returned to films with ‘Garden State’ and ‘Closer’. Some of her celebrated works include ‘Star Wars triology’, ‘V for Vendetta’, ‘Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium’ and ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’. In 2008, Natalie made her directorial debut with a short film ‘Eve’ at the Venice Film Festival. In 2011, Natalie received an Academy Award for Best Actress for the movie Black Swan.
Natalie Portman Closer - Winning Golden Globe

Closer, a romantic drama, was released in 2004. The movie starred Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Clive Owen along with Portman. In the movie Portman plays the role of a stripper, Alice Ayres. Natalie Portman Closer, the movie, enjoyed only a moderate success in the US box office where it grossed about $34 million however it was a big success internationally, where the movie grossed over $81 million. Natalie Portman Closer role earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Academy Award nomination for Best Performance in Supporting Role.
Black Swan Movie 2010 - Winning Academy Award
In Black Swan Movie 2010, Portman gave one of her best performances till date. Portman’s powerful performance of Nina Sayers, a ballerina struggling with hallucinations, earned the actress her first Academy Award for Best Actress in Leading Role. Portman also won most of the other awards like the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild, and the BAFTA for her performance. To prepare for the role, Portman trained for over a year for 3 hours everyday to perform credibly asNatalie Portman is an American Israeli actress who currently holds citizenship status to both countries. Her birth name is Natalie Hershlag however she selected the last name “Portman” as her stage name when she became an actress. She speaks both English and Hebrew and has been known to state that even though she loves living in America, her heart will always be in Jerusalem where she was born. Her great grandparents were killed in Auschwitz during WWII.
Portman’s parents met while they were both attending the Ohio State University who returned to Israel prior to her birth. After a brief stay in Jerusalem their family moved to Washington D.C., Connecticut and finally New York.
Portman graduated from Harvard with a degree in psychology and some of the highlights of her education include two research papers that eventually became published in separate scientific journals. She carries an enthusiasm about language and has studied a variety of foreign languages including German, French, Arabic and Japanese.
Most notably, Natalie Portman is known for her role in “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” where she played the role of Padme Amidala throughout the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Still in high school at the time, Portman actually missed the screening of this blockbuster because she was busy studying for her high school exams. She has gone on to star in other major block buster Hollywood films including “The Black Swan” and “V for Vendetta”.
Natalie is an avid environmentalist and has strong beliefs in animal rights. She even travelled to Africa, specifically Rwanda, to assist in the making of “Gorillas on the Brink” along side with Jack Hanna. Along with animal and environmental causes Portman is a strong supporter of economic and anti-poverty events and frequently travels to third world countries to support her personal causes.
Natalie Portman got married in 2012 during a private ceremony away from the spotlight she is typically in the center of to Devendra Banhart who she met on the set of “The Black Swan”. They currently have a son together who was born prior to their marriage in 2011. Portman has publically announced that she plans to raise her son Jewish and is considering raising him in Israel to help reinforce her religious beliefs.
Portman has starred in a number of roles, many of which became box office hits including movies such as “Zoolander”, “Mars Attacks!”, “Cold Mountain”, “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium”, “No Strings Attached” and Marvel’s “Thor”. She has also made her way onto popular television shows as a guest such as “The Simpsons”, “Sesame Street”, and “Saturday Night Live”.
Natalie Portman has an outstanding acting career and has been nominated for over 50 awards, 26 of which she has won. Portman is a celebrity that has stayed true to her roots and her causes throughout her fame and career and even took a break from acting to finish her schooling at Harvard. Portman continues to strive to achieve greatness and pursues her desires with a passion that is unhindered by critics. She even stated once that she doesn’t care if her schooling interferes with her acting career before receiving her degree in Psychology from Harvard University. a ballerina.