A Guide to Natalie Portman’s Career in Film and Activism

Natalie Portman is an acclaimed actor, director, writer, producer, and activist. She received an Academy Award in the Best Actress category for her performance in Darren Aronofsky’s film Black Swan, and nominations for her performances in Mike Nichols’s film Closer and Pablo Larraín’s Jackie. She has also been honored with Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics Choice Awards, and a BAFTA Award. Natalie has also taken on a variety of roles behind the lens, such as director and producer. A Harvard graduate with a degree in psychology, Natalie has also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In addition to her time in front of and behind the camera, Natalie is a devoted activist. She became the first Ambassador of Hope for FINCA, an international village banking microfinance program providing small loans and savings programs to the world’s poorest families so they may create their own jobs, raise household incomes, and improve their standard of living thereby reducing poverty worldwide.

As an Ambassador of the WE Charity, Portman lends her time to the organization that empowers youth by removing barriers that prevent them from being active local and global citizens. Through the organization and the “Power of a Girl Project,” she also helped support and fund the opening of the Kisaruni All-Girls Secondary School in Kenya.

Natalie Portman has appeared in a number of award-winning or nominated films over her long and successful career. Here is an overview of some of those films.

1. 1. Léon: The Professional (1994): Natalie made her film debut at 11 years old in this 1994 Luc Besson film. She plays a young girl named Mathilda who befriends a hitman following the murder of her parents.
2. 2. Anywhere But Here (1999): Natalie was 14 years old when she landed the role of Susan Sarandon’s daughter in this comedy-drama film about a mother and daughter who arrive in Beverly Hills to pursue a new life. The role earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
3. 3. Star Wars Episode: The Phantom Menace (1999): Natalie has famously appeared as Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogies, beginning with George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace. She also appeared in the subsequent prequel trilogies, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). The prequel trilogy to the wildly popular Star Wars films of the 1970s and '80s rank among the top-grossing films ever produced worldwide.
4. 4. Garden State (2004): Zach Braff directs and stars opposite Natalie Portman who plays a mysterious and eccentric young woman from his New Jersey hometown. Natalie was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, as well as a number of Teen Choice Awards.
5. 5. Closer (2004): In Mike Nichols’ romantic drama, Natalie plays a mysterious young woman named Alice who gets swept up in an affair with a writer. Closer earned Natalie an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a BAFTA nomination for Best Film Actress in a Supporting Role, and won her the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
6. 6. V for Vendetta (2005): In this dystopian drama Natalie plays Evey, a young woman who teams up with a freedom fighter to overthrow the British government. Natalie earned a nomination for a Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Film for this performance.
7. 7. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008): Natalie stars as Mary Boelyn opposite Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana in this fictionalized account of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The performance earned Natalie a nomination for Best Foreign Actress at the Russian National Movie Awards.
8. 8. Black Swan (2010): Natalie won an Academy Award in the Best Actress and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance as a perfectionist ballerina in this psychological thriller.
9. 9. Jackie (2016): In Pablo Larraín’s biopic of the late and former First Lady Jackie Kennedy, Natalie won the Critic’s Choice Movie Award for Best Movie Actress and Actress of the Year from the Hollywood Film Awards.
10. 10. Annihilation (2018): In this sci-fi thriller, Portman stars as an Army veteran and professor of cellular biology who encounters a dangerous and mysterious supernatural entity she and her colleagues must investigate.
11. 11. Lucy in the Sky (2019): This American drama directed and written by Noah Hawley telling the story of an astronaut—played by Natalie—and her return to Earth after a life-changing mission.

Filmmaker Natalie Portman has a few directorial titles under her belt.

1. 1. Eve (2008): Natalie directed this short film starring Olivia Thirlby as a young woman who shows up at her grandmother’s house to discuss her mother, only to end up as the third wheel on a date. The short film debuted at the 2008 Venice Film Festival and also stars Lauren Bacall, Ben Gazzara.
2. 2. New York, I Love You: “Natalie Portman” (2008): Natalie wrote and directed a short film for the romantic comedy-drama anthology New York, I Love You, about a day in the life of a father and daughter spent in Central Park.
3. 3. A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015): Natalie wrote, directed, and starred in A Tale of Love and Darkness, which made its world premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The story, based on the autobiographical novel by Amos Oz, revolves around Oz’s childhood in Jerusalem in the period following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine and the early years of the State of Israel, in addition to his teenage years on a kibbutz.

Natalie has also served as a producer on a number of films and documentaries, including:

1. 1. Hesher (2010): Natalie produced this dark comedy about an anarchist and squatter (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who moves into the home of a grieving father and his troubled son. She also plays the role of Nicole in the film, a down-on-her-luck grocery clerk who helps the main character.
2. 2. The Other Woman (2009): Natalie Portman both starred in and executive produced this drama about a woman dealing with the loss of her infant daughter.
3. 3. No Strings Attached (2011): Though she originally entered this film as a producer, Natalie earned the lead role in this film opposite Ashton Kutcher about two friends who struggle with their relationship after a one-night stand.
4. 4. The Seventh Fire (2015): Natalie executive produced this American documentary film about Native American gangsters and their impact on their communities.
5. 5. Jane Got a Gun (2015): Natalie both produced and starred in this action Western film as Jane, a woman who must defend her home from an approaching gang and rescue her daughter.
6. 6. Eating Animals (2018): Natalie executive produced and narrated the documentary Eating Animals, which examines factory farming and is based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s book of the same name.
7. 7. Vox Lux (2018): Natalie Portman executive produced and starred in this film as a pop star named “Celeste” who struggles with fame and the trauma of a tragic event from her youth.

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