Natalie Portman

Biography of Natalie Portman

Birth date: 06.09.1981

Natalie Portman (born as Natalie Hershlag) is an American theater and film actress of Israeli descent, film director, screenwriter, and producer.

She became known primarily for her roles in the films 'Leon: The Professional' (1994) and 'Closer' (2004), for which she received the 'Golden Globe' and 'Oscar' awards. She also appeared in the prequel trilogy of 'Star Wars'. For her role in 'Black Swan' (2010), she won the 'Golden Globe', 'Oscar', BAFTA, and Saturn awards.

Place of Birth. Education. Natalie Portman was born on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, as the daughter of Avner Hershlag and Shelley Stevens. Her father is a specialist in infertility treatment and reproductive endocrinology, and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Hofstra Medical School. Her mother, a former housewife, is now Natalie’s agent.

All of Natalie’s maternal relatives come from the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary, and paternal relatives from Romania and Poland. The stage name Portman is the maiden name of Natalie’s Jewish-Russian maternal grandmother.

When Natalie was three years old, the family moved from Israel to the USA so that her father could continue his education. They first lived in Washington, where Natalie attended a Jewish school, but in 1988 they moved to Connecticut and finally settled on Long Island in New York State. Natalie Portman holds dual citizenship - USA and Israel.

From the age of four, Natalie took dance classes and performed with local ensembles. She attended a Jewish elementary school and graduated from Syosset High School. In 1998, during her time in high school, she co-authored a research paper on 'Enzymatic Hydrogen Production', which allowed her to participate in the Intel competitions. In June 2003, Portman completed her studies in psychology at Harvard University. In addition to her native Hebrew and English, Natalie also studied French, German, Japanese, and Arabic.

Film Career. During her summer holidays, Portman took acting classes at Stagedoor Manor. At the age of ten, Natalie auditioned for the play 'Ruthless!', which was about a girl who wants to commit murder to get the lead role in a school play, and she was chosen as Laura Bell Bundy's double.

In 1994, Natalie successfully auditioned for the film 'Léon: The Professional' by Luc Besson, in which she played the main role of Mathilda, a girl who befriends the professional killer Léon (Jean Reno).