Natalie Portman Biography
For Natalie Hershlag, education was an important part of her family and she had been taught as a child that no matter the career choice she made it had to be coupled with excellent credentials from credited institutions. She was a bright girl at school and possessed an ability to listen to people and interact well with them. This led to an interest in how people’s emotions or reactions were influenced and Portman took on a demanding course in Psychology at the prestigious Harvard University. Her academic history can also be traced to the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove in New York, the Syosset High School also in New York and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Another passion for Natalie was in film she took part in theatre productions from an early age of three and spent most of her time at the Stagedoor Manor and Usdan Camps along with other child wannabe stars.
Born to a Jewish line on June 9 1981 in Jerusalem, Israel she was raised in Jerusalem, New York, Washington D.C and Connecticut by Avner Hershlag, an elite medical researcher and Shelley Hershlag a stay at home mother. She is commonly known as Natalie Portman, a name that was taken up after she moved to the U.S and ventured into modelling, the reason for the name change was attributed to the negative attention she received as a Jew and also because she thought that the name would be hard to remember by her fans.
Portman’s career starter was ‘Ruthless’, a musical that did not do much to bring her to fame, the following role was in the film ‘Leon’ which pushed her to the Hollywood scene in 1994. Her then stalled for the rest of the 90’s decade as she took up roles in less publicised productions in film and Broadway.
She made a comeback in 1999 as Princess Padme Amidala in the sci-fi film ‘Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace’. The film was an instant success and its popularity resulted in Portman’s fame around the U.S. Portman reprised her role in the following sequels ‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’ in 200 and 2005 respectively.
Other roles by the actress include Sara in ‘Cold Mountain’, Ann August in ‘Anywhere but Here’, Taffy Dale in ‘Mars Attacks!’ and Novalee Nation in ‘Where the Heart Is’.
Portman has campaigned around the world on the need to engage in entrepreneurship in order to curb poverty. Her humanitarian work includes visits to Africa and Asia where she has provided funds for the natives to start small business enterprises.
She is affiliated to the One Voice Movement and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation, PETA. Under One Voice she campaigns for the need to save the environment from the harsh realities of global warming by engaging in green and co-friendly practices such as tree planting. With the help of PETA, Portman is vocal about the need to conserve animals and not kill them for purposes of pleasure and fashion.
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