In
the Professional (1994; originally
released in director Luc Besson's native France under the title
Léon), Mathilda, played by Natalie Portman, formed an unlikely
symbiotic relationship with the professional hitman Jean Reno. As
the storyline unfolds, Portman's stunning performance proves that
she's an actress to be reckoned with. Her '94 debut was immediately
followed by minor performances and appearances before Portman once
again captured the audience' minds, next to Matt Dillon and Timothy
Hutton, in Beautiful Girls (1996).
Her career was a one-way ticket, as she continued to distinguish
herself in various films, including Michael Mann's Heat
(1995) and Woody Allen's Everyone
Says I Love You (1996), and Tim Burton's Mars
Attacks! (1996), in which she played the daughter of President
Jack Nicholson.
Portman,
who turned 20, June '01, has through many years been recognized
for her "mature" performances, and has for that and many
others reasons become one of cinema's most promising performers.
Yet despite her image as a serious young thespian, Portman, who
was born in Jerusalem but raised in New York City, is still somewhat
a typical teenager who hangs out with her friends, watches Dawson's
Creek, listens to Portishead while she does her homework, ponders
college, and harbors a fervent passion for fashion (of which she
quotes, "It is an art, but people mistake it for materialism").
When
Portman was nine, the family settled in Long Island (after having
spent years in Israel, Maryland, and Connecticut while her father
received advanced training as a doctor) where she has lived as a
suburban kid ever since, attending the local high school (even during
the major theatrical coming-of-age, her run as Anne Frank) and escaping
to the city on weekends ("where I live is a classic suburb
- a nice place to grow up but there's nothing to do, which causes
a huge problem for young people"). She loves to dance , particularly
at giddy, velvet-rope nightspots such as Life.
With
her interest in fashion, Portman is well-suited to play the exotic
Queen Amidala in the beginning of a legend, Star
Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. In the year of 1995, she
met George Lucas in his Marin County home. Approaching the eight
year commitment was to Portman not an easy task, as she was unsure
at the time whether she wanted to pursue her acting career or not.
Aware
of the potential loss of privacy by starring in a film series that
has provoked such devotion among fans worldwide, she signed up for
the role as the young queen and future mother of Luke and Leia.
"I still can't prepare myself. I don't know what's to come.
But what's happened so far has been wonderful, to see people so
passionate," she says to British Empire
Magazine...
In
1999, Anywhere But Here, directed
by Wayne Wang, was released all over the American continent. Starring
Natalie Portman alongside with Susan Sarandon, this movie takes
us on a journey to Beverly Hills, in which both actors, mother and
daughter, search for success. The following year, 2000, we got to
see Natalie Portman as Novalee Nation in the heart-warming and charming
comedy/drama Where The Heart Is.
In
the summer of 2001, Natalie starred as Nina in Anton Chekhov's The
Seagull. The Central Park play also featured stars such as Kevin
Kline, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Christopher Walken.
Natalie
Portman is currently attending college and has chosen psychology
as her major. Still, she manages to combine both acting and school
by doing films in the summers. |
