Natalie Portman says the serious, buttoned-up public image she built as a young actress wasn’t an accident — it was a defense mechanism against being sexualized on screen as a child.
Portman got her start in films with dark, adult themes, including the 1994 thriller “Léon: The Professional,” along with “Heat” and “Beautiful Girls.” As she navigated Hollywood at a young age, she and her parents worked to keep her real-life identity separate from the characters she played.
Instead of leaning into the provocative image tied to some of those early roles, Portman cultivated a more reserved public persona, favoring conservative, age-appropriate outfits for red carpets while staying focused on school.
“I think there was a conscious effort, because I was depicted as this sexualized Lolita, that I wanted to be like, ‘No, I’m serious, I’m a good girl, I’m a prude, I’m smart, I’m a student,’ emphasizing that as almost a safety mechanism,” she told Harper’s Bazaar.
Portman went on to take on emotionally demanding, complex roles, winning an Oscar for “Black Swan” and earning a nomination for “Jackie.” But she said that reputation for seriousness, paired with her choice of roles, left people with a skewed idea of who she actually is.
“But then, over time, it became like everyone thinks I’m really serious,” Portman said. “I’m very silly, and I love to laugh more than anything, and I love to goof off. People always think I’m a perfectionist, I think, because of ‘Black Swan.’ I’m the opposite. I’m forgiving with myself. In college, we had a phrase: ‘Done, not good.'”
After years of darker, heavier roles, Portman said she’s now more interested in bringing audiences some happiness.
“Right now, it’s a lot of joy,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “I think it’s both for myself and what I hope to offer an audience, because it just feels … I mean, every time has dark moments, but it feels like there’s a lot of really heavy stuff going on. It’s just ever-present in our face, and so it does feel like the biggest service you can do right now as an artist is to deliver some joy.”
That shift extends to her personal life. Portman recently welcomed a third child with her partner, Tanguy Destable, telling Harper’s Bazaar she’s been “full of wonder and joy at this magical little human.” She shares two older children, Aleph and Amalia, with ex-husband Benjamin Millepied, from whom she split in 2024 after 11 years of marriage.
Portman said the newborn has also made her more aware of how quickly childhood passes.
“It gives me a whole new attention to my big kids too, as I am reminded of how recently they were these little fresh creations and how quickly they’ve blossomed into incredible humans with their own amazing personalities and senses of humor and ideas,” she said.
