Natalie Portman’s journey from a child actor to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars is truly impressive. With a career that has spanned decades, explored various genres, and earned her nearly 100 awards, she has become a household name. However, as with many celebrities, fame and success haven’t spared her from hardship, heartbreak, or self-doubt.
In a 2023 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Portman opened up about her insecurities, admitting, “I have to remind myself that I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I give myself little pep talks. Rejection hurts, and it’s normal for it to hurt.”
“You can’t grow too thick a skin because, as an actor, your whole job is being sensitive and feeling things. I think it’s about being comfortable with the pain.”
Unfortunately, Portman knows pain all too well. Throughout her life, she has faced significant adversity. Here are some of the tragic details of Natalie Portman‘s story and how she has found silver linings along the way.
#1. Her family has a tragic connection to the Holocaust
Natalie Portman was born Natalie Hershlag on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem to Jewish parents. When she was just a few years old, her family emigrated to America, where she later adopted the stage name Portman, derived from her maternal grandmother’s surname.
Growing up, she attended Jewish schools in the U.S. and has maintained a strong connection to her Jewish roots, remaining fluent in Hebrew and speaking out against antisemitism.
In an August 2015 interview with The Independent, Portman discussed how the Jewish community should approach the memory of the Holocaust today. “Sometimes it can be subverted to fear-mongering and like ‘Another Holocaust is going to happen.’
“We need to, of course, be aware that hatred exists, anti-Semitism exists against all sorts of people, not in the same way. I don’t mean to make false equivalences, we need it to serve as something that makes us empathetic to people rather than paranoid,” she explained.
The recent rise in antisemitism has understandably affected Portman deeply, as the issue is personal to her. Her family’s history was scarred by the atrocities of World War II. While her maternal grandparents managed to relocate to America before 1939, members of her father’s side of the family were not as fortunate.
In a July 2019 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she revealed, “My great-grandparents were killed in the camps, and my grandfather’s younger brother was shot in Poland during the war.”
#2. Natalie Portman was sexualized as a child
In 1994, 13-year-old Natalie Portman made her breakthrough in the movie “Leon: The Professional.” However, what should have been a milestone in her career was marred by a disturbing reality—she quickly became aware that she was being sexualized as a child. At the Women’s March in January 2018, Portman shared her painful experience:
“I excitedly opened my first fan mail to read a rape fantasy that a man had written me. A countdown was started on my local radio show to my 18th birthday, euphemistically the date that I would be legal to sleep with.”
“Movie reviewers talked about my budding breasts in reviews. I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually, I would feel unsafe.”
This troubling reality is something that many young stars have faced over the years. Former child actors like Millie Bobby Brown, Emma Watson, and the Olsen twins have also been targets of such “countdowns,” and countless others have endured similar sexualization.
In a February 2024 interview with Variety, Portman spoke with Jodie Foster, who had also experienced the darker side of being a child actor. Portman explained that she adopted a tough persona to protect herself from potential predators, and her mother, who also served as her agent, was always by her side.
“She was with me all the time and made sure that no one got near me,” Portman recalled.
#3. She was bullied as a kid
Despite becoming a Hollywood star at a young age, Natalie Portman was determined to lead a normal life when she wasn’t working. At school, she used her real name and maintained excellent grades while balancing her acting career.
By the time she was 18, she had already starred in six movies and even performed on Broadway. But instead of admiration from her classmates, Portman’s fame made her a target for bullying and teasing.
On a December 2020 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Portman and Drew Barrymore, who also grew up in the spotlight, discussed how they were treated by their peers.
“People get bullied for all sorts of reasons, and that’s a lucky reason to be bullied for because you’re doing something you love,” Portman said.
“But being teased like that does build empathy. It made me determined never to make anyone else feel that way.”
Barrymore related to her experience, having faced similar challenges. Portman reflected on how difficult it was to go through that as a child.
“Young people should be able to be proud of their accomplishments, but I felt like, ‘Oh God, I should just keep my head down all the time.’ That’s not a good way to live,” she added.
#4. She had depression in college
In 1999, after wrapping up filming for Star Wars: Episode I, Natalie Portman enrolled at Harvard College to study psychology. Determined to prove that she belonged there on her own merits, she used her birth name and worked hard to show that her admission wasn’t just due to her celebrity status.
In May 2015, Portman returned to Harvard as the keynote speaker at an event, where she shared both the highs and lows of her time at the prestigious university.
“It’s easy to romanticize my time here, but I had some difficult times,” Portman admitted. She revealed that at 19, she experienced her “first heartbreak,” and her emotional struggles were worsened by the side effects of a birth control pill she was taking at the time, which has since been taken off the market due to its depressive effects.
In a December 2010 interview with Vogue, Portman further opened up about this challenging period.
“I gained the freshman fifteen or twenty and had some really depressed moments. That Cambridge winter is tough. It was important to learn how to navigate through that and find ways to pull myself out of it. You start learning how to ask friends or professionals for help or seek guidance from mentors,” she explained.
Despite the tough times, Portman persevered and graduated in 2003 with her degree. However, she acknowledged that she missed acting and knew deep down that her true calling was to be an actor.
#5. Natalie Portman had a ‘creepy’ relationship with Moby
In his 2019 memoir, Then It Fell Apart, musician and record producer Moby claimed to have had a romantic relationship with Natalie Portman while she was attending Harvard.
He described how, at 33, he began dating the 20-year-old actress after meeting her at one of his shows, but said their relationship ended after a few weeks. Portman, however, had a different perspective on their time together.
After the book was published, Portman shared her side of the story with Harper’s Bazaar. “I was surprised to hear that he characterized the very short time I knew him as dating, because my recollection is of a much older man being creepy with me when I had just graduated high school,” she said.
“We only hung out a few times before I realized that this older man was interested in me in a way that felt inappropriate.”
Portman also corrected Moby’s claim that she was 20 at the time, clarifying that she was actually 18 when they met.
“I was a teenager. I had just turned 18. There was no fact-checking from him or his publisher—it almost feels deliberate,” the actress remarked. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time an older individual acted inappropriately toward her.
#6. Natalie Portman had her ‘big heartbreak’ when she was 25
By 2004, Natalie Portman had graduated from college and was back in the film industry. She starred in the romantic drama Closer alongside Jude Law, Julia Roberts, and Clive Owen, and rekindled her collaboration with director Mike Nichols.
They had previously worked together on a stage production of The Seagull, and Portman was delighted to reunite with Nichols, who had always treated her with great respect.
In a December 2014 interview with New York Magazine, Portman recalled how Nichols had been especially supportive during a difficult time in her life.
“When I was 25, I went through my first big heartbreak. It was a rupture of my adolescence. I was at [Mike Nichols’] apartment, lying on the floor, and he picked me up, gave me a pep talk, sent me to a doctor, and quite literally peeled me off the floor,” she said.
Portman has not disclosed who the man was that caused her heartbreak, but it might have been Jake Gyllenhaal, whom she dated briefly in 2006. Since then, Portman has had several high-profile relationships, including with actor Gael Garcia Bernal, singer Devendra Banhart, and notably, dancer Benjamin Millepied, whom she married in 2012.
#7. Many mentors have been ‘creepy’ with her
Throughout her career, Natalie Portman has worked with many renowned filmmakers, but she has noted that only one male mentor never crossed any boundaries with her.
In an interview for Mark Harris’ 2021 book, Mike Nichols: A Life, Portman discussed her positive experience working with Mike Nichols on Closer. She described Nichols as “the only older man who mentored me without there ever being a creepy element.”
Harris noted that Nichols was especially considerate and protective, particularly in the film’s strip club scene. At Portman’s request, Nichols agreed to reduce the amount of nudity in the scene. Portman remarked, “He wants to see my bare ass even less than my father would.”
In a 2018 interview with Porter, Portman admitted that she hadn’t always recognized when she was being treated inappropriately on set. “I went from thinking, ‘I don’t have a story’ to ‘Oh, wait, I have 100 stories,’” she said.
Following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Portman became one of the founders of Time’s Up, a non-profit organization aimed at addressing inequality and sexual harassment in the workplace. Although the organization has since disbanded, Portman reflected on its impact.
“There was something so powerful about gathering women with similar experiences and sharing,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2023. “It still pains me that Time’s Up no longer exists as it once did.”
#8. Natalie Portman was injured while filming Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan featured Natalie Portman as a ballerina grappling with the intense demands of playing both the innocent White Swan and the seductive Black Swan in Swan Lake.
To prepare for the role, Portman underwent rigorous training that included extensive dance classes, swimming, and a strict diet of mostly almonds and carrots, which helped her lose 20 pounds.
While Portman did have a body double, Sarah Lane, for some of the more challenging moves, she pushed herself to the limit. In a November 2010 interview with NPR, Portman described the toll dancing en pointe took on her feet. “They get disgusting. Toenails fall off. You know, they get blistered and calloused,” she said.
But this was not the worst injury she experienced. “The worst injury I had was a dislocated rib. … I couldn’t take deep breaths for six weeks, and I wasn’t lifted from my ribcage anymore. I got lifted under my armpits,” she added.
In December 2010, Portman told Entertainment Weekly, “There were some nights I thought I was literally going to die. It was the first time I understood how you could become so immersed in a role that it could almost take you down.” Despite these challenges, her dedication was rewarded when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2011.
#9. She’s been subjected to body shaming
Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan featured Natalie Portman as a ballerina grappling with the intense demands of playing both the innocent White Swan and the seductive Black Swan in Swan Lake.
To prepare for the role, Portman underwent rigorous training that included extensive dance classes, swimming, and a strict diet of mostly almonds and carrots, which helped her lose 20 pounds.
While Portman did have a body double, Sarah Lane, for some of the more challenging moves, she pushed herself to the limit. In a November 2010 interview with NPR, Portman described the toll dancing en pointe took on her feet.
“They get disgusting. Toenails fall off. You know, they get blistered and calloused,” she said. But this was not the worst injury she experienced.
“The worst injury I had was a dislocated rib. … I couldn’t take deep breaths for six weeks, and I wasn’t lifted from my ribcage anymore. I got lifted under my armpits,” she added.
In December 2010, Portman told Entertainment Weekly, “There were some nights I thought I was literally going to die. It was the first time I understood how you could become so immersed in a role that it could almost take you down.”
Despite these challenges, her dedication was rewarded when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2011.
#10. The ‘terrible’ gossip surrounding Natalie Portman’s marriage
While filming Black Swan in 2009, Natalie Portman met French dancer Benjamin Millepied, who was hired as a choreographer and trainer. They quickly connected and kept their relationship private until December 2010, when they announced their engagement and Portman’s pregnancy.
Their son, Aleph, was born in June 2011, and they married a few months later. They welcomed their daughter, Amalia, in February 2017 and continued to work together on various projects.
However, in May 2023, rumors surfaced about Millepied allegedly having an affair with activist Camille Étienne. The speculation intensified when Portman was seen without her wedding ring, leading many to believe the rumors.
Although Portman did not address the situation publicly, she filed for divorce in July 2023, and their divorce was finalized in March 2024. According to a source close to the former couple, “She and Ben really love their kids and are equally focused on being the best co-parents they can be. Nothing is more important.” (via People)
In a February 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Portman addressed the speculation for the first time. When asked about the impact of the rumors on her, she responded directly, “It’s terrible, and I have no desire to contribute to it.”
