Trivia

Graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2003 with a Artium Baccalaureus degree in Psychology.

She often broke down and cried offstage while part of the Broadway adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" in 1997, where she portrayed Anne Frank, because of her personal connections to the events. Her grandparents lost most of their family members in the Holocaust including her paternal great grandparents who were killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

Had to miss the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) so she could study for her high school final exams.

As the first day of Cold Mountain (2003) filming fell on Halloween, Portman came to set dressed as Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz", only to realize she was the only one who had dressed up.

Can speak two languages, Hebrew and English (her native languages), fluently. Also knows some conversational French, German, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic.

She was discovered in a pizza parlor and was originally turned down for the role of Mathilda in Léon: The Professional (1994) because she was too young.

She has said one of the most difficult challenges of filming Black Swan (2010) was her speaking voice. She stated throughout her career, so far, director Mike Nichols has given her consistent criticism on how childish her voice normally sounds and encouraged her to work with vocal coaches to make it sound deeper and more adult. The role of Nina required her to regress backwards to make her voice more child-like. She felt it was taking her back to a point she worked hard to leave behind.

During the royal premiere of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), she met King Charles III. The prince asked her whether she had also been in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), which had been released four years before her birth.

Originally turned down the role of Ann August in the film Anywhere But Here (1999) because of the love scene between herself and Corbin Allred that required nudity. Susan Sarandon, who had co-star approval, said she couldn't continue the movie without Portman, so the script was re-written without the scene and she accepted the role.

Her years at Harvard resulted in the phenomenon of The Natalies, in which every underclasswoman with that first name received numerous e-mails and phone messages from fans.

Bears a striking resemblance to Keira Knightley. Knightley played Sabé, the Queen's decoy, in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). When in makeup, not even the mothers of the actresses could tell them apart.

Has a slight indentation on her head, that was visible during the time she had her head shaved. The indentation was the result of being delivered by vacuum extraction.

Named after Natalie Wood.

Paid for all of her own ballet training to prepare for the role of Nina Sayers in Black Swan (2010).

Has taken dance lessons since the age of 4. Still takes ballet classes.

She hesitantly shot an explicit nude scene for Closer (2004), in the scene where Alice (Portman) strips for Larry (Clive Owen). Ultimately, Portman and director Mike Nichols agreed not to use it, as the scene was effective enough without it.

Though she played Padmé Amidala, the biological mother of Luke Skywalker in three installments of the "Star Wars" movies, she has never personally met Mark Hamill as of 2018; Hamill revealed this to his followers on Twitter when it was Portman's 37th birthday, as well as noting that the Annie Leibovitz photoshoot for Vanity Fair (which features the stars of the first two "Star Wars" trilogies) was shot individually. Portman did, however, meet her onscreen daughter Leia (Carrie Fisher).

Before she was cast in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), she had never seen the original Star Wars trilogy. She admitted to James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio (1994), in 2004, that, before being cast, she didn't know the difference between "Star Wars" and "Star Trek".

When she arrived at a London airport to do reshoots for the third Star Wars prequel, a customs official--going by her size--asked Natalie if she was traveling with a guardian.

Takes pride in the fact that she is a role model for girls and chooses roles that are positive so that they will have a positive role model to look up to.

Is very close to her parents and says, "The best part about being friends with your parents is that no matter what you do, they always love you.".

Turned down the role of Wendy Hood in The Ice Storm (1997) because she felt the material was "too dark". The role went to Christina Ricci, who has said she often gets the projects Natalie turns down.

Is a dual citizen of the United States and Israel.

Footage of her and Leonardo DiCaprio as Juliet and Romeo in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996) was actually shot before executives had her replaced with Claire Danes due to the age difference between Natalie and Leonardo.

In January 2011, she became the new face of Dior in the Miss Dior Cherie ad campaign. On February 27, 2011, a video of top Dior designer, John Galliano, going on an anti-Semitic rant in Paris surfaced online. Portman released a statement condemning Galliano's actions, specifying she was "shocked and disgusted," and as a proud Jewish woman refused to associate herself with him from that point on. Since the Miss Dior Cherie ad campaign was set to officially launch two days after the video surfaced, Dior was forced to take legal action to work out a settlement in order to keep Portman as a spokesperson. Galliano was fired on March 1, 2011 and the ad campaign launched as originally planned.

Says her performances in Everyone Says I Love You (1996) is her worst. Her failure, she believes, is her inability to improvise.

Favorite actresses include Audrey Hepburn, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton.

Moved to the United States when she was 3 years old.

Turned down the title role in Adrian Lyne's Lolita (1997), due to her feelings about young adult actors/actresses being exposed to sex in films.

Was considered for the role of Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), but Anne Hathaway was cast instead.

Several months after shaving her head, she was traveling through Ireland and stopped for directions at a bed and breakfast. The owners refused to allow her even onto their porch. However, they did give her directions.

Said that it was while working on The Seagull (2002) that she became aware that acting is much more about the process than the product. Most helpful was when she would peek over Philip Seymour Hoffman's shoulder at the notebook he kept, in which he wrote questions and then answers about his character's feelings.

She holds the record for third-largest "Best Actress" award sweep (38 wins) for her role as Nina Sayers in Black Swan (2010), following Helen Mirren (40 wins) for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006) and Cate Blanchett (41 wins) for her performance as Jasmine French in Blue Jasmine (2013).

In 2006, she appeared as a guest lecturer at Columbia University in a political science course titled "Terrorism & Counterterrorism". She led the class in a discussion about politically infused violence referencing her most recent film at the time, V for Vendetta (2005). Her appearance was part of an MTV short-series, "Stand-Ins", where college professors were replaced with a celebrity instructor for one day.

When Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in September 2009 and awaiting extradition to the United States for having raped a 13-year-old girl back in 1975, Portman (along with Harrison Ford, Monica Bellucci, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody and many others) signed a petition to free him, even though Polanski did admit that he did have sex with the 13-year-old, committing statutory rape. In a 2018 interview for Buzzfeed to promote Annihilation (2018), Portman stated that she regretted her involvement, alleging that someone was passing the petition around where she lived and she'd ignorantly signed her name to be helpful.

While in Morocco, she lived in a tent and traveled by camel. She visits Morocco regularly.

Gave birth to her 1st child at age 30, a son named Aleph Portman-Millepied on June 14, 2011. Child's father is her fiancé (now ex-husband), Benjamin Millepied.

Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 35, a daughter named Amalia Millepied on February 22, 2017. Child's father is her now ex-husband, Benjamin Millepied.

Was considered for the role of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010) after Emily Blunt dropped out of the project, but Scarlett Johansson was cast instead.

Unwinds by singing karaoke at Winnie's, a New York City bar in Chinatown.

(August 4, 2012) Married her boyfriend of three years and father of her 13-month-old son Aleph Benjamin Millepied. It was a private ceremony in Big Sur, California.

Listens mostly to R&B, old school hip-hop and 1990s alternative rock. Some of her favorite groups and artists are A Tribe Called Quest, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, Portishead, Wu-Tang Clan and Nirvana.

She entered a project into the Intel Science Talent Search in the late 1990s while at Syosset High School. Her project, titled "A Simple Method to Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar", took her to the semi-finals of the Intel contest. She graduated Valedictorian of Syosset High School in 1999 and went on to study Psychology and Neuroscience at Harvard University, graduating in 2003.

Is a spokeswoman for FINCA, a financial charity who gives and recycles small loans to women in poverty stricken countries so they can start small businesses. FINCA's president Rupert Scofield has spoken about feeling lucky to have Portman as a celebrity spokeswoman because she is, "extremely intelligent and committed." Portman has traveled to several countries as a FINCA ambassador and worked with many of the women FINCA's donations have helped.

She currently lives on Long Island, New York, and also shares a home in London, England. She has lived on Long Island, New York since she was a child (2007).

Is trained in ballet, jazz, and tap dancing.

There is a band named after her: Natalie Portman's Shaved Head.

Favorite actor is Ben Kingsley.

Was briefly referenced in The Social Network (2010). Portman was approached by writer Aaron Sorkin when writing the screenplay to the film to get insider information on Harvard University at that time because she was a fellow student of Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, and also Divya Narendra and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

Is one of 14 actresses to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. The others in chronological order are Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich (2000), Renée Zellweger for Cold Mountain (2003), Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005), Helen Mirren for The Queen (2006), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006), Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008), Mo'Nique for Precious (2009), Octavia Spencer for The Help (2011), Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012), Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (2013), Patricia Arquette for Boyhood (2014), Julianne Moore for Still Alice (2014) and Brie Larson for Room (2015).