« Being an actor means
behaving like a kid! »
 

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PostED ON 15.10.2025

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Before a crowd of fans who had arrived at dawn to hear her speak, Natalie Portman elaborated on her early days as an actress, her influences, and her work as a producer.
 

© Olivier Chassignole

 

The films that have shaped her life

I didn't grow up with arthouse films, but more mainstream, very commercial ones, such as Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff's The Lion King (1994), Chris Columbus's Mrs. Doubtfire (1994), Emile Ardolino's Dirty Dancing (1987), and so on. It was when I started working with directors that I became interested in the films of great auteurs such as Wong Kar-wai or John Cassavetes. So I began building a repertoire of films that I needed to know and that I loved. This gave me enormous diversity, whether in arthouse cinema or entertainment.

 

Actresses she admires 

There are many, but just off the top of my head, I’d mention Gena Rowlands in John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Isabelle Huppert in Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher (2001), Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes' Safe (2012), Nicole Kidman in Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995), and Reese Witherspoon in Alexander Payne's The Paperboy (2000). I watch them a lot and I study them.

 

 

Diane Keaton

This actress gave female characters the opportunity to be as complex as male characters: to be funny, intelligent, emotional, and above all, weird... She allowed herself to do this and was one of the first to do so. I loved her in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give (2004). She was always interested in everything and had this ‘charming oddball’ quality. That's why we fell in love with her.

 

Léon: The Professional 

That first film, at the age of eleven, was a wonderful first experience. Everyone treated me very well on set. I began to think of acting as a game, in the children’s sense of the word. Because after all, being an actor means behaving like a child all the time! I was able to watch how Jean Reno and Gary Oldman performed, and I was inspired by their work. Luc Besson placed as much importance on the actors as on all the other professions on set. It was a real opportunity for me.

One of my actor friends told me that to succeed in this profession, you need to have two sides: you need to be thick-skinned, but at the same time vulnerable enough to be able to embody all of the character's emotions... and be able to switch between the two! 

Léon was a hit in France, but it's important to remember that it was not a success at all in the United States. It pretty much bombed! Yet today, people still talk to me about that film. It taught me not to pay too much attention to how a film is received, at least not right away. With time, you see to what extent it can touch people. And it takes a long time for it to ripen in people's minds. The important thing is the work itself.

 

Heat 

It was incredible to act opposite Al Pacino. I was fourteen then. Everyone included me and made me feel comfortable. At the same time, I was too young to be intimidated. Al Pacino really invested in this role with me. In Heat, I play his stepdaughter. He really built a close relationship with our characters, whereas in Léon, Jean Reno used a more distant, more focused approach, because there’s also a distance between the two characters in the story. Every actor has their own method and you have to constantly adapt to the people around you.

 

Adaptability

I’ve moved around a lot in my life. One of my teachers told me that she had noticed that children who have moved around a lot adapt more easily. Many child actors were military kids, such as Julianne Moore. Children who travel have to adapt quickly, and that helps enormously when doing this job.

 

Psychology studies

Studying wasn't really a choice; I came from a very academic family who wanted me to follow a linear educational trajectory. For me, it was very important to go to the  university because it allowed me to develop independence, learn new things, and meet wonderful people, friends who are still friends today, so I have no regrets. When you approach a character, you try to find out what they're thinking and feeling so that you can interpret them better, so in the end it's a bit like being a psychologist. In that respect, my studies helped me. In cinema, there are many characters who have psychological problems. Sometimes they're narcissistic or bipolar, and it's important to understand their psychology. 

 

Star Wars

I was very lucky because working on the first film, neither social media nor camera phones existed... so I was able to return to school after filming and have some peace and quiet. I could live my life and party without photos being posted on social media the next day!

When I was a psychology student at Harvard, everyone looked at me a little strangely, thinking I was probably there thanks to my success as an actress. But I kept my feet on the ground and told myself that I deserved to be there. 

It was an incredible opportunity to play a leader at age sixteen. It's rare, even as a woman, at any age. It has enormous cultural significance. 

I also like the idea of acting in a children’s movie... Well, even if my own children refuse to watch the ones I'm in (laughs)! But their friends have seen them and love them! 

The shooting of this film was a whole new experience for me, especially in terms of my acting. I felt the same way later on with the Thor movies. Star Wars was one of the first films shot entirely digitally, meaning with blue or green screens... It was like being a child in a cardboard box! You have to imagine what's outside of you, but also inside. It was quite difficult. I still have a lot of admiration for actors who manage to perform well in digital situations like this. 

 

Approaching the technical aspect of the profession

I never went to theatre or film school, so I learned later in life. I began to plunge into the technical side when I performed in Anton Chekhov's play The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols. There was an impressive cast, including Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman. There were rehearsals, which gave me the chance to see how these great actors prepared, and I took notes and immersed myself in more serious work. It was fascinating. 

After a certain time, you have to learn to develop your own technique, your own experience, your own way of being. You have to try and fail, and start again, over and over. That's how it was for me. I tried different methods and changed them depending on the situation. You also have to always do your research on the character in the film: for example, if it’s a historical figure, a specific profession, an experience or a condition that you can explore. And for that, YouTube is an incredible resource! You can find everything there. It helped me a lot with my role in Brady Corbet's Vox Lux (2019). For the role of Jackie Kennedy (in Jackie, by Pablo Larraín, 2017), I did lots of research, watched archives, read articles... For other roles, I had to learn to ride a horse, develop a particular accent... And of course learn ballet for Black Swan. It's important to find your own personality.

 I had two very important teachers: Gerry Grennell, who taught me to be comfortable inside my body, through meditation and breathing techniques, and how to use my eyes to better play my character, and Kim Gillingham, who had me work on the connection between my dreams and my characters, focusing on the subconscious. It was so exciting and helped me a lot!

 

Black Swan

Of course, for the more difficult dance scenes, I had a body double, because even after intensive training, you can't become a ballet dancer in a year (laughs)!

Darren Aronofsky is an extraordinary director. He has a very specific vision and confidence in that vision... to the extent that he always accepts good ideas from everyone. When you have that level of confidence, you know how to recognise good ideas, and on the other hand, you still remain kind when you have to reject bad ones. When you take the best ideas, there’s a combination of confidence and humility. That's what defines this director and his work.

Ugo Bienvenu, who directed Arco (slated for theatrical release on 22 October, co-produced by Natalie Portman -  editor's note), said that when you're an animation film director, you can go from being a technician to a director in a week... It's a truly collaborative effort, which is less the case in other films that are non-animated. Darren Aronofsky is an exception, because with him, the team really worked as a collaborative community.

 

Mike Nichols 

He was one of the most generous mentors I’ve ever met. He was very important to me, not just professionally, but also in my personal life. I think about him at least once a day. Mike talked to me about art, my career, my choices, and my life as a human being. He had amazing emotional energy.

When he passed away, at his funeral, there were probably fifteen people there who had experienced the same thing as me with him. I don't know how he found the time to mentor all those people! Today, you could say that I am starting the second part of my career. It’s my turn to mentor others.

I advise film students to find a mentor. Especially women. Or, if you've already been acting for a few years, be mentors to younger people yourselves! Help them become the best they can be. It makes a huge difference in this business.

 On the set of the miniseries Angels in America (2003), Mike said that the difference between older actors and younger actors is that the older ones are always very prepared, while the younger ones arrive a little unprepared. However, it’s very important to prepare before arriving on set.

Finally, Mike also told us, ‘If something very important happens to you, you have to kill it.’ For example, if tears well up when you’re acting, don't let them fall!

  

Jackie Kennedy

It was a very important lesson for me; I didn't think I would take that role. It happened for logistical reasons: at the time, I was living in France to be with my partner. I didn't go out much because our children were very young, and the only opportunity I had was to play Jackie. The filming would be done in France, so I just said ‘okay’, without thinking about it too much! Afterwards, I realised what I had just agreed to and started panicking. So I became immersed in doing exhaustive research, reading books and, most of all, listening to Jackie Kennedy's voice to train myself to sound like her. I listened to hours and hours of recordings. I had to learn to speak exactly like her, with the same rhythm, the same pauses, and so on. By repeating it over and over again, it became ingrained not only in my head, but also in my bones! I had never experienced anything like that before and it was magical.

Pablo Larraín is an incredible director. He manages to create dramatic tension where there is none.

 

May December 

I accepted this project right away, and everything went very well. It was smooth sailing. Julianne Moore is one of my favourite actresses, and my opinion was confirmed once I met her. It was interesting to see how we create a performance in life in order to inhabit our own existence.

 

Arco, Best Animated Film Award at the Annecy Festival 2025 

It’s important for me to produce films because I want to help create and share with the world what I enjoy. I wanted to produce Arco (in cinemas on 22 October), directed by Ugo Bienvenu, because I wanted to work with Sophie Mas, who’s been a friend of mine for 20 years and the best producer and human being I know. I couldn't have made this project happen without her. It was a stroke of luck.

 

Brief assessment of her career 

It's very strange to look back and see that I've been an actress for 30 years already. That's a long time (laughs)! I've had lots of experiences, met lots of people, experienced interesting feelings, travelled to many places... Yes, it's a wonderful life. Black Swan, Jackie, Vox Lux, May December... In these films, we see the same ways of being. There is a connection between all the characters I’ve played. But I continue to move forward. I'd like to work with filmmakers again, such as Rebecca Zlotowski (Planetarium, 2016), even though I think French-language roles should be played by French actresses, who do it best. I'd also like to direct other films, but I'm not announcing anything else for now!

 

 

By Fanny Bellocq