Natalie Portman at the PaleyLive Lady in the Lake screening in 2024 © The Paley Center for Media
She debuted in 1994 at age 13 in the French action-thriller film Léon: The Professional by Luc Besson, she gained worldwide recognition by famously starring as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars in 1999, 2002 and 2005, she won her first Academy Award and her second Golden Globe in 2010 for her intense portrayal of a fragile and repressed ballerina in Black Swan, she has been a testimonial for Dior for over a decade: the outstanding career of the one and only Natalie Portman truly is a monument in itself.
Over a career that spans three decades, the prolific Israeli-American actress has amassed a consistent body of high-quality work portraying timeless women’s icons Anne Boleyn and Jackie Kennedy, starring alongside movie stars such as Julia Roberts and Jude Law and exploring all film genres – from drama to romantic comedy, from psychological horror to superhero franchises and the like.
Lady in the Lake © Apple TV+
Equally blessed with brains and beauty, she also found time throughout the years to graduate from Harvard University, campaign for animals’ rights and give speeches about microfinance in developing countries; what an honour has it been to meet her on the occasion of the launch of the Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake.
The 7-episode top-drawer drama series released in 2024 is set in 1960s Baltimore and follows the parallel lives of a struggling African-American mother dealing with a complex entanglement made up of trauma, a broken marriage, ostracised feminism activism attempts and reluctant involvement in organised crime – played by Emmy-award nominated actress Moses Ingram – and a Jewish housewife with a secret past and an uncertain future portrayed by Ms Portman.
The intriguing noir thriller marks Natalie Portman’s first-ever role in a TV series, and she is in today to discuss her career achievements, the differences between making films and making TV shows and the way speaking different languages has shaped her different brains.
Natalie, is there any difference from an actor’s perspective between making films and making a TV series?
Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram in Lady in the Lake © Apple TV+
Absolutely. I mean, in a TV series you have so much more space to explore the character, to find detail and nuance in different shades of their personality. And then, of course, just practically, it’s very much a marathon compared to a sprint; it’s such a long, intense process, compared to making a film which is quite short, relatively,
How do you feel when you see yourself on television?
I don’t… I don’t look, I don’t watch, you know, I think I just move forward!
Is there a role you would like to play but you haven’t had the chance to do yet?
Um, I would love to do a musical!
Why a musical?
You know, I did a little bit in Everyone Says I Love You [by Woody Allen, in 1996] when I was a kid, but it was, you know, quite small and a long time ago. So I would love to explore that again.
Was there one particular moment after your first movie when you suddenly realised your life had changed?
No, I think I was lucky in that it was quite gradual, so it changed a little bit over a long time, and it wasn’t like overnight – it was completely different.
What single achievement are you most proud of, at this stage in your career?
Wow, well, I am so grateful that I’ve gotten to have so many different experiences with so many filmmakers and artists that I admire and I’m also so grateful that I’ve been able to have a life full of children and friends and adventures that have also filled me so much at the same time.
You speak several languages; it is often said that multilingual people develop different brains. Do you have a different brain for each one of the languages you speak?
Mmm, that’s a great question. I think I do. I think it affects a lot. I think just having like, different sides of myself gives me kind of an outsider perspective, wherever I am – like I never quite fit in. And I think that’s very much like an artist’s point of view of kind of observing how things are different and how things are strange. And I always feel like that.