I have such mixed feelings about Natalie Portman’s THR cover interview. On one side, she’s a pretentious, humorless ass. On the other side… I feel like THR asked her a lot of unnecessary questions about politics, the Jewish people, Israel and Charlie Hebdo and she didn’t really get a chance to show off a lighter side. THR’s justification, I suppose, for their line of questioning is that she’s promoting a film she directed, set and filmed in Israel, and she’s an Israeli-born woman who now lives in France (where anti-Semitic hate crimes are on the rise). The interview is actually pretty epic, so if you’d like to parse every word, go here for the full piece. Some highlights:
On Benjamin Netanyahu: “I’m very much against Netanyahu. Against. I am very, very upset and disappointed that he was re-elected. I find his racist comments horrific. However, I don’t — what I want to make sure is, I don’t want to use my platform [the wrong way]. I feel like there’s some people who become prominent, and then it’s out in the foreign press. You know, sh-t on Israel. I do not. I don’t want to do that.”
Forgiving John Galliano after his anti-Semitic rant: “I don’t see why not to be forgiving to someone who is, I mean, someone who’s trying to change. However, I don’t think those comments are ever OK. I don’t forgive the comments, but … we’ve all done things that we regret.”
Her marriage to Benjamin Millepied: “The disappointments are always in myself, and like, when you’re faced day to day with someone looking at you, it’s like a mirror that you have to yourself, and you can see your own good behavior and bad behavior. And it’s a beautiful challenge to be the best person in the mirror that you can be. I mean, I don’t beat myself up over it, but I’m not always as generous as I feel like I could be.”
Whether she’s nervous about being Jewish in Paris. “Yes, but I’d feel nervous being a black man in this country. I’d feel nervous being a Muslim in many places.”
Living in France now: “I’ve been to Paris so much in my life that I felt [at first] like it’s very similar, and then when you live in a place, you start realizing how culturally different we are, deeply culturally different… in millions of ways. I feel like this country has a lot of religion and a lot of freedom around that; and there, the religion is almost like love. Love and intellectualism is their sort of way. I love that people at dinner want to have a serious conversation — and only a serious conversation. They’ll be upset if you don’t have something interesting happen. I love that my kid wants to go to art museums after school — like, ‘Take me to the Pompidou.’ I love that it’s also not elitist, as it is in New York. You can afford to go to the philharmonic or the opera much more easily because all of it’s subsidized. And there’s a huge culture of cinema there.”
She was in Kenya during the Charlie Hebdo attack: “I went to visit a school that we actually helped build with Dior that was an all-girls school in Kenya, like the first girls’ secondary school in the area. Someone I was with was looking at the news and said, ‘Oh my God! There were just attacks in Paris.’ ” Was she shaken by the killings? She looks at me directly and stops twirling that metal stick. “Listen,” she says. “I’m from Israel.”
Her Best Actress Oscar: “I don’t know where it is. I think it’s in the safe or something. I don’t know. I haven’t seen it in a while. I mean, Darren [Aronofsky] actually said to me something when we were in that whole thing that resonated so deeply. I was reading the story of Abraham to my child and talking about, like, not worshipping false idols. And this is literally like gold men. This is literally worshipping gold idols — if you worship it. That’s why it’s not displayed on the wall. It’s a false idol.”
Her lack of interest in her Oscar is… interesting. Especially given that she hustled SO HARD for that little gold idol back in 2011. She was doing and saying everything she could to win that Oscar. And after she won, we found out that she and the Black Swan team pretty much lied the whole time so Natalie could win. Sarah Leal, the real ballerina/body double in Black Swan, came out after Portman’s win to basically say that it was her (Leal’s) body used in many of the ballet scenes and that Natalie wanted everyone to think that she had become this world-class ballerina in just 18 months. Portman’s Oscar win will always have an asterick beside it (for me) and I can’t believe she went through all of that to diss her Oscar.
Incidentally, in the midst of all of that political discussion, Natalie did briefly discuss the massive clusterwhoops of Jane Got a Gun, where the director and several actors all left the project within a week of the start date. Natalie plays coy with what really happened, saying that she got there “one week before we were supposed to start.” What THR didn’t press her on was the fact that she’s a producer on the film and isn’t it strange that she just showed up a week before the production began and she only had like one meeting with Lynne Ramsay, the director who quit? Isn’t much of the clusterwhoops ON NATALIE for poor management?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN.
I’ve never liked her for some reason. She seems very cold. I think she’s beautiful, but it just can’t get interested in her.
I’ve actually always liked her and prefered her by far to her pseudo intellectual co-star/peer Scar Jo. I met her with her adorable flaxen haired son on the Eurostar Belgium to Paris train, and she was as nice as could be.
Natalie’s a Harvard graduate who has won pretty much every award going and is now adding director to her cap so good on that. But, but she sounds more like Scarlet and KStew and is sadly starting to dissappear up her own a**
Except Kristen has never talked about politics or current issues. Her only idea of struggle is that of being a very famous rich Hollywood actress. She talks about sexism when she can link it to herself, even though she has admitted before that she gets things way too easily and her life is “too perfect”. She uses big words wrong and uses metaphores that make no sense. She’s uneducated and it always shows in interviews. She swears too much and there is no eloquence to her small ideas. She’s always “like, like, like.”
She always comes off as the type of airhead who tries to sound deep, but has no idea of what is going on in the world. I doubt she ever watches the news or reads the paper. You will never hear her talk about Charlie Hebdo, Israel, racism, or be as brave as to publicly voice her opinion on her current president.
Kristen Stewart doesn’t live in France, isn’t Jewish (I think), and isn’t Israeli, so there isn’t really a context to ask her about Charlie Hebdo, Israel, or racism. Natalie is asked those questions, not because she’s deeper, has faced more struggle, or is more well-read and intelligent, but because context-wise she’s married to a Frenchman, holds Israeli citizenship, and is Jewish. Natalie also often says “like, like, like” too.
I don’t even think voicing her opinion on Netanyahu is that brave. A lot of people have issues with him. I don’t know if disliking Netanyahu is really that controversial. A lot of people don’t because of how he tarnishes Israel’s reputation. However, she doesn’t go so far as voicing criticism of the Israeli state’s actions in Gaza either, which would be taking an actual stand. I also don’t think I’ve ever heard her voice a dislike of an American president, even though she holds citizenship in the USA. She keeps quiet on that like everyone else in Hollywood.
@Misti64…how funny…I have met her on Eurostar, she was kind to move her stuff of the seat for my friend. I was seated behind them and somehow she actually engaged me into light exchange of pleasantries. She was sans makeup, looking very beautiful.
Perplexed, I’m not sure you do know how difficult it can be as a Jew, particularly in North America, to voice opposition to Netanyahu. The backlash can be intense and even strain friendships and romances. You would not believe some of the vitriol I’ve received because I dared to state my disappointment in the rsult of the recent Israeli election. So yes, her going on the record and saying as much does require some courage. We don’t know what kind of flak she’ll get from family, friends or even colleagues.
Yea, her charisma factor is on the low side. But she is beautiful….as she gets older she looks more and more like Angelina. That whole classically beautiful bone structure, creamy complexion, minimal makeup and full lips. They could play sisters in something.
I think that Portman is truly classically beautiful – I don’t think Jolie is classically beautiful at all. She has big bug eyes, huge lips – she is actually odd looking. Many people find her beautiful, but I don’t at all.
Natalie looks worse now than she did before, and her plastic surgeries haven’t helped, imo. She’s also really small in stature and not at all striking in person.
She annoys me so much. I wish I had never read or watched a single interview with her because now when I watch her in a movie, that’s all I see is a pretentious snot.
The Oscar thing makes me laugh. She didn’t feel that way when she was campaigning her ass off to win it!
Yeah, she hustled like crazy for that win. Even if this is truly how she feels now, it seems incredibly disrespectful to the other performers nominated her year (Michelle Williams, Jen Lawrence, Nicole Kidman & Annette Bening) to say this.
When you start biting the hand that feeds you, it seems an indication of someone who is spoiled and ungrateful. There are a lot of other actors out there who are appreciative for all they have and those are the ones I admire.
Exactly! And this thing about how her oscar is not on display because it’s a false idol and it reminds her of the story of Abraham? Sit down, Natalie! Of course, if you win an oscar you could put it on a bookshelf somewhere in your house because winning it was nice but not Natalie because ,you know, she’s an intellectual.
The golden calf. Bible.
Okay, I somewhat get her point. It is not the statue that is important but always an actor’s last performance.
Yeah I actually agree with her about that, I get what’s she’s saying. And I think it’s not just the Oscar per se, but the whole celeb worship culture in general. While she did hustle her tail off for it back then, it sounds like she’s had a change of heart since then which we’re all entitled to do, it’s how we grow.
My takeaway wasn’t that she was saying *anything* negative about winning an Academy Award. She seems to be saying that displaying the statue itself puts too much focus on a statue….laughably, in this case, an actual “golden idol.” Having your professional peers recognize your work and give you the (literal or figurative) gold medal is incredible, but the medal itself isn’t the point. If they didn’t give a physical symbol of the honor I doubt it would be less meaningful to the winners. That said, I really like it when people with impressive awards and/or diplomas, don’t display them as constant reminders of their “greatness.”
Maybe she sat down to watch Black Swan and realized it works best as high camp.
I don’t think she was saying anything negative either, but I did think the analogy was a little funny. I get what she’s trying to say, but the way she worded her statement sounded a little odd, as if the golden statue has great powers over her if she dares to look at it.
BTW, what did Darren Aronofsky say to her? She went from his mentioning something to her (which she doesn’t say) to suddenly talking about reading the story to her kid, and there was no transition there from talking about Aronofsky to the story of Abraham. I find her interviews more frustrating to read in that sense — sometimes she doesn’t finish one thought before moving on to the next.
Deedee, it is campy.
I think she is actually talking sense. The worship of the Oscar, the worship by us of the celebrity culture, the obscene attention and money these people get for really just playing make-believe. It’s messed up and says some very seriously scary things about our culture. Like the Met Gala the other night – hail, all, the fall of Rome, in real time.
Interesting interview.
Her answers made me like her, but I still can’t completely be her fan because of her stance on Roman Polanski.
I agree. It was a more interesting interview than the usual fluff pieces… I like that she was bold and answered tough questions.
Yeah, I kind of feel like these women can’t win. They do fluff pieces, and the actress gets criticized for being an airhead and the reporter for not asking women interesting questions. Then you get something like this, where it gets much more intellectual, the questions are more interesting…and the actress is labeled pretentious and the interviewer is asking too heavy of questions.
truth
Well, even if this is full of “unnecessary questions about politics” and I think not, I rather read thing like this over interviews full of diets, kids, marriage advices and whatever uninteresting things trying to sell other actresses.
I don’t know if I like Natalie, she was very annoing during her Oscar campaing, but now I find her interviews always worth reading.
Plus, Tale of Love and Darkness is one of my most beloved books, so thumbs up for Natalie for this one.
Even when discussing politics she sounds kind of flat and uninteresting, imo. But maybe that’s because I don’t find her to be that articulate. She’s as inarticulate as everyone else in Hollywood despite the Harvard degree and the fact that her father is a gynaecologist (which seems to repeated in every single article on her).
@perplexed
I agree, she don’t say anything special. But she willingly discuss these question and I still appreciate this.
@perplexed I agree that she is very inarticulate – to the point that she often gets lost in her own thought processes, but the generalization that everyone else in Hollywood is like that is simply wrong. Keira Knightley – Natalie’s look-alike, doesn’t have a Harvard (or any) degree but her interviews are always a real pleasure to read. Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Carey Mulligan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Radcliffe to name a few, are all very eloquent. I can’t think of any American right now, but I’m sure there’s a lot of actors, who don’t only talk about their own intelligence but actually sound intelligent. It’s on her that she paints herself as this great intellectual, but fails to prove it.
I agree that other actors like Keira and company are articulate. I erroneously generalized that other actors are inarticulate because of how often some of them are criticized for not being like Natalie.
“Take me to the Pompidou.”
“A huge culture of cinema.”
Get over yourself, toots.
There are more of 300 movie theaters at Paris for example
She is so far up her own rear end I’m surprised she can sit down. Maybe her Oscar is up there too.
HA!
Right?! Wonder how she felt about that French super tax of 75% on top earners. I guess that didn’t work out so well. I can’t believe anyone would have thought that was going to work. Geeze!
the 75% is only for the French citizens.. she’s still an American citizen and her husband is a French citizen but probably doesn’t make enough for it to matter. And she probably hides all her money in offshore tax shelter LLC’s like everybody else in France does, but she won’t ever admit it.
I don’t know why this is do offending to anyone. Seriously, I’m living in Europe and really don’t understand why going to the museum or stating that european film culture is different than in US is picking up as so… offending to the readers?
This puzzles me too. The culture there is richer because of europe’s history. That’s not a lie.
I don’t think the opinion about going to the museum or France having a huge culture of cinema is offensive, but I can see how the quote read as a whole can come of as pretentious (i.e people in France only have serious conversations. Could someone ask Michael “I love hockey forever” Vartan whether this is actually true or not?). I’m also trying to imagine a 3 year old asking to go to the Pompidou. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility the kid asked to go, but it does give me a bit of chuckle trying to imagine him saying “Pompidou.” It sounds sort of cute, but all I remember about being 3 was my parents setting the itinerary for the day.
I also wasn’t sure what to think of her opinion about religion in France. She knows more about France than I do as she lives there, but I suppose the media has coloured my impression of how different religious expression might be tolerated in France.
I’ve travelled quite a bit in Europe; I appreciate culture and art.
I simply thought her choice of words sounded very pretentious.
Madga, I think people are reading a “compared to the US,” onto the end of every sentence in which she talks about France. I don’t know if that’s fair or not. What I do know is that it is kind of pretentious to look so harshly down one’s own nose in calling out someone else’s pretentiousness.
minx “huge culture of cinema” and “take me to Pompidou” is a pretentious word choice? How?
Her kid is how old & he;’s into the P’dou, not the Carrousel?
I don’t understand. Is there something wrong with instilling a love of the arts in children?
I read the criticism as more the idea that she’s essentially saying her child wouldn’t have this love of the arts if she were raising him in the U.S. It’s kind of like Paltrow and the whole theme of disparaging the U.S. when comparing it to Europe/the UK/France, as painting Americans as lacking intellectualism, the arts, history, culture, etc., rather than just stating how much she enjoys the other countries without sh*tting on her home country and the people there until it’s time to shill for a movie or awards show. I think people are reading Natalie’s statement the same – as indicative of her belief that her child wouldn’t have the same opportunity to develop a love for art in the U.S., maybe because Americans don’t appreciate it as much or aren’t as cultured enough to do so.
It’s also inaccurate. For instance, the Kardashians seem more popular in France than they are in the US. While Europe’s main attraction is its history and accompanying arts, architecture, etc. (as opposed to its contemporary accomplishments), I don’t find that Europeans are more cultured or refined than Americans. On the contrary, they can be very provincial and narrow-minded. It all depends on one’s circle. Additionally, I find certain cities in the US far more creative, refined, and enriching than Europe’s old capitals, which seem stagnant at times. Against this backdrop, I find her comments ridiculous; they make her sound like she’s perhaps not the best person to converse with over dinner. Quite the impressionable but ignorant…33 year old.
On a superficial note…is she pregnant again?
And I love that Art in Frances is more affordable because it is subsidized. That is called pre-payment.
^^^^^^^^pre-payment yes!!
She sure did hustle her ass to win one but ok.
^^^^^^^^this!! she was hustling her ass everywhere and belly cupping for the media and playing it up for sympathy votes as well.
She played every card she had to win and now::::
” I haven’t seen it in a while. I mean, Darren [Aronofsky] actually said to me something when we were in that whole thing that resonated so deeply. I was reading the story of Abraham to my child and talking about, like, not worshipping false idols. And this is literally like gold men. This is literally worshipping gold idols — if you worship it. That’s why it’s not displayed on the wall. It’s a false idol.”
WTF???
She was reading the story to her child during that “whole thing”
does she mean she was reading to her fetus or is she also rewriting that she wasn’t 7 months pregnant at the time?
Awfully easy to say you don’t worship false gold after you’ve hustled you’re ass off
and lied you’re ass off to win the oscar right??
She sold her soul and now she wants it back.
I’m surprised that’s what everyone is paying attention to in this interview. Of course she hustled for that Oscar/lied and all that but I liked that she was discussing politics. I hear it from men celebrities more than women and I’d like that to change.
Of course there are celebrities that endorse candidates and are politically active, but I rarely hear their candid views unless that’s their angle celebrity-wise (like Stacy Dash now) and I find it refreshing.
God, I hate these pretentious comments by these twits that always make it a slam against the U.S. The dinner conversation statement by her was truly eyeroll-inducing. “I love that people at dinner want to have a serious conversation — and only a serious conversation. They’ll be upset if you don’t have something interesting happen.” Yes, over here no one is intellectually curious and capable of talking at dinner about anything more than their new nail color. She needs to get off of her high horse.
She received a prestigious acting award, that she did campaign for, and now she dismisses it. False idols? No one said she had to place it on the fireplace mantel. But how about just being proud and honored that you received it and not so snotty about it now in an interview?
That did sound like a Gwyneth Paltrow quote.
Yes, I beleive Goop said basically the same thing, only her interesting conversations are in London, while Natalie’s are in Paris. Maybe if they talked to people besides their counterpart Hollywood morons they’d have better convos here in the US?
Me thinks she doth protest too much. These Hollywood types more there to prove some point about how deep and above it they are. Look I love Paris but it has massive massive social and financial problems it needs to confront. On a lighter note, the top movies in France last year included Lucy, X-Men, Transformers, and Rio 2…just like everywhere else! The top French films? All light comedies. This Hollywood naivity about it’s vast superiority is ridiculous.
ITS vast superiority
+1. They seem not only naive, but also incredibly ignorant.
If it bothers her that much then give it back.
I think she’s smart, and a good actress – if a little pretentious perhaps. She’s also right about French cinema culture, which is exceptional: in my personal experience, nothing compares to it, either in the US or elsewhere in Europe. However, it does seem strange that as producer she wasn’t more involved in the immediate run-up to that film – it sounds like she wasn’t interested in putting in the heavy grafting that she should have.
I think Jane Got a Gun’s pre-production was a disaster and it was more a vanity movie project for her
Her point about culture being subsidized in Paris, making it less status oriented is great. I mean, I don’t give a crap about her opinion, but I love that more socialist-leaning countries value an educated populace along all socio-economic lines.
Except she does not live the life us, mere mortals, live in France.
Go to the banlieus parisiennes to see if kids ask to their unemployed mums, or their not so rich parents: “take me to the Pompidou”. Those kids do not have access to the best education around. She is proposing a sterotyped image of Paris. Which is not France, but is a huge international capital.
I It’s still an important point though, regardless of the messenger.
Coming from a privileged woman who has privileged friends, who live privileged lives, in my opinion is not a reliable quote, or opinion, because she has no idea of what the status is in real life here in France.
If you are born in the wrong side of Paris or no matter where, and you don’t have access to “the good schools” (hello dossier system) you don’t have an easy access to the education, unless you are exceptionally talented.
I don’t know if Natalie Portman is aware but there are arrondissements, in Paris, where the apartements rent depend even from the school nearby. For example.
Yes…especially if you live in the most exclusive arrondissements and go to the most expensive, elite (not subsidized) schools does mummy have time to take the children to the Pompidou. Most mums are working or on the hour long commute home on public transport. I’ve lived in two socialist countries so far (never again) and I think it’s really comical how some people who don’t live in a socialist country tend to idealize and romanticize it. Trust me, the rich are still rich and the poor are still poor, even if the ticket to the symphony is a few Euros less because of subsidies.
France is not really a “socialist” country.
I have friends all over Europe, and yes, life can still be hard, but I think it’s disingenuous to pretend that Europe’s “socialism” doesn’t have many advantages. Free or cheap daycare alone does wonders for lower-to-middle class working Moms who must work.
Ava,I can’t speak for others but I’ve lived in socialist countries. Yes, mothers still work. But as a former latch key city kid myself, I can tell you that broke teens, when given the chance will make use of the free/low cost resources available to them. Teens will take mass transit to explore city parks, museums, etc when that’s available to them. I realize these things are available in the U.S. too, not just socialist countries, but I liked her point about the difference in assumptions regarding culture being for the elite or for everyone. You can hate Portman all you want, but you’re letting the messenger cloud your perception of what is actually an interesting point.
Bitch please.
All her comments are dumb “eating meat is like a rape” and she signed a letter pro-Polanski.
“the recession is exciting because people losing their jobs mean they can pursue what they really want to do” and so on. A really dumb woman
Please tell me she did not say that. Wow. People were worried about losing their homes and putting food on the table.
Wow, I had no idea she was pro-Polanski or that she said that about the recession! Talk about over-privileged and out of touch.
Oh right. Thanks for reminding me about Polanski.
Damn Nat, with that beautiful child of your own how can you?
I had totally forgot about that recession comment! Ugh! She lives such a sheltered life… I wonder how actors like her can even relate to their characters.
Agree. Just because she went to Harvard doesn’t mean she’s as smart as she thinks she is. She says the dumbest things and takes herself too seriously. She probably thinks having a French man and living in France makes her so cultured now.
Disgraceful.
Her Oscar comments are unbelievably hollow after she’s already won one (and hustled like hell to do it).
The “Jane’s” comment either she’s lying or she has one of these vanity producing deals where her name sells and someone else is doing the work. Very unprofessional impression.
She’s just pretending it’s not so important, or she realized that the Oscar didn’t do much for her career as she expected.
Perhaps because she wasn’t that good and didn’t deserve an Oscar. She sure hustled her ass off and exploited that baby bump while campaigning like crazy to win it. She’s a pretentious stuck up snob.
I don’t think she’s dumb (as in not knowing her right hand from her left — yeah, I set the bar that low), but the way she phrases her sentences bothers me….There’s sometimes no connection between one sentence and another. Maybe the use of “like” doesn’t help.
Also, when she says “Listen, I’m from Israel” sounds a bit know-it-all-ish….I realize that she’s an Israeli citizen, along with being an American citizen, but she doesn’t live in Israel (or Gaza) on a daily basis, so it’s not like she’s dodging killings on a daily basis. She reads about the attacks like the rest of us; she doesn’t actually live the experience the way a Palestinian or Israeli actually living in the country would.
I get the sense that what she says makes sense in her head, but she doesn’t realize that the rest of us don’t have access to her thought process. She probably just needs to word things better and provide more context.
Regarding the “I’m from Israel” comment, I agree. She moved to the US when she was 3. What is she talking about?
She probably has family and friends in Israel. It’s a small country and unfortunately pretty much everyone knows someone who has been killed.
It’s interesting she really hasn’t done any good movies since she won the Oscar. I’m also tired of her comments, and I don’t think she’s that bright. Remember that dumb comment she mad when she won an award (SAG?) about how in the movie the male dancer wouldn’t shag her, and she basically said, well he really did shag me in real life! What a twit.
I remember how she whined about how hard she trained for a year to become a ballerina and did 90% of the dancing to everyone before there was a backlash by the real dancer.
Isn’t there a bit of a curse about winning oscars? I always get the feeling that it+s much better to just be nominated. They get this “stamp” of quality but without the pressure of having to do only do oscar worthy films. Or at least it seems some get stuck in that sort of career place where nothing is good enough.
I never believe actors who say their oscar is in the bathroom or they don’t know where it is. Like any of these narcissistic, needy people would ever be rid of the highest award of their profession.
Agreed. It’s up there with the “i never work out and eat pizza all day” bs.
I can believe when an actor say it because I know the story of a Palme D’Or winner forgot his prize in his hotel bedroom and recovered it 2 years later
I actually believe the bathroom stories because I would find that funny. Guests using the bathroom sending alone time with a real Oscar. I find that amusing:D
Totally agree. Pretentious and fake-humble.
the sentence in the headline is certainly true. its hilarious how much value (especially financially) is given to a silly showbusiness award. then again as you point out Natalie wanted this thing and jumped through all the hoops to get it. maybe now that people called her out on not deserving it she feels its less valuable.
on another note: i cant with american actresses married to foreign guys anymore. its not that they simply found love with someone from a different culture and country, that would be beautiful but they have to tell us how magical everything is. (and of course only in her little bubble )
often i also get the impression that Gwyneth, Madonna, Natalie and Scarlett just married those guys to have the french/british pretentious crediblity.
And then tired of it after a few years and came running back to the U.S. the minute they could.
Goopy, with all of her pretentious quotes about living in London, is now living the life in sunny California.
totally agree, natalie will not last long there as neither of them do…she and scarlett both will eventually divorce their french hubbies and come back and start their own goop since their careers will be in the toilet…or should i say…la toilet haha!
I’ve always liked her and I like her acting. She’s intelligent and articulate.
This is not the first interview, though, where she’s come off as pretentious.
Meh. She’s entitled to her opinions.
Articulate? She doesn’t sound articulate:
“I was reading the story of Abraham to my child and talking about, like, not worshipping false idols. And this is literally like gold men. This is literally worshipping gold idols — if you worship it.”
I’m not religious, but I think it’s not so much the statues but the worship of money and the moneyed that would be categorized as a ‘false idol’. Also, I think her Oscar has some taint, since I believe some of the votes were predicated on her devotion to studying ballet and doing all of her own dancing, while a real ballerina actually did all the hard work.
I don’t like small talk, but I also don’t like insane political debates at dinner either. Meh, on everything else. She appears incredibly cautious on political statements. And the Metropolitan Museum of Art has recommended donations, but lower rates for students and free access for kids. As a kid, I didn’t always have the full amount, but was never denied access.
+1
please dont take this the wrong way but giving the Oscar to someone because they learned a new profession would mean that some poor unfortunate actors could never strive to one when they play a cardiac surgeon or a neuroscientist…
I love her dress. For some reason she never gets the ugly Dior dresses.
Oh, you mean the JLaw Special Reserve Collection? I think Raf secretly hates her!
I was under the impression that she won an Oscar for acting and not for dancing. Her acting in that film was brilliant, and her award was we-deserved.
+ 1. She might be pretentious and serious, but she’s a GREAT actress. One of the best working right now in my opinion.
I think the story played on cliches and her acting was good, but not the best performance ever witnessed. I do believe that the dancing played a big role in her winning, just as other actors secured wins by uglying it up, losing weight, putting on weight, etc. The ‘struggle for art’ seems to resonate with academy voters
I agree – I know she’s unpopular in these parts, but I really thought her performance in that film was great. The skilled dancing was such a small part of it, and I don’t recall Natalie herself ever taking credit for it. If the producers exaggerated it, that’s on them, not her, IMO.
I’ve already ranted about the Black Swan thing. http://www.celebitchy.com/402729/sony_hack_aaron_sorkin_thinks_actors_work_harder_than_actresses/#comment-14346279 The best I can say for Natalie in all that is that she did the least amount of talking. I guess I can give her some credit for that. However, I must say that she didn’t NEED to speak. Aronofsky, Millepied and even Kunis did all the talking for her.
For me, The Black Swan success had a lot to do with editing and makeup (the red eyes scenes were really disturbing). Specially if she didn’t dance as much as we were made to believe.
You can’t get more pretentious than her (maybe just Goopy can). Also, she doesn’t know where her Oscar is? She should probably look for it in her a** She campaigned so hard for it that even AnnE and JLaw would still learn something from her.
Natalie made a good point about Netanyahu. I agree with her on that.
As a fellow Jew from Israel, her take on Netanyahu is disturbing. He’s not an angel but he’s done SO MUCH for Israel and for it’s people that not backing him is pathetic. He’s been under fire so much for so many things and it just takes away from how wonderful he is for Israel and for its people. No one ever takes a second to acknowledge the fact that he was VOTED back in many many times because of how influential he is.
How that pathetic? She doesn’t like or agree with his politics. I’m sure she’s not the only Jew to feel that way.
Agree, FB. Netanyahu is perceived by some Jews in the US as so hostile to negotiations for peace that he actually damages the world’s opinion of the Israeli position re: Gaza & the Left Bank.
Netanyahu is a racist and a disgrace for the Israeli people. Just because he’s a Jew doesn’t mean he can’t be criticised. He’s not promoting diplomacy and peace, only hate and fear.
This is a real hot-button topic for me so it’s best I don’t start. Just wanted to say thank you for your comment Grace, spot on.
Agree on Netanyahu. He’s done more damage than good. A horrible and racist “leader”.
there was once a time when people thought she was the next Meryl Streep. oh, how the mighty have fallen. Cute dress though.
She didn’t seem to think it was a false idol when she got all teary accepting it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYvUm1YJBSs
Granted, Natalie Portman is not the best actor out there, but she’s decent though. She’s also opinionated and intelligent (no, not just because she went to Harvard). This interview proves it.
I can’t believe she’s getting so much backlash for getting an underseved Oscar. So many other people hustled to win it despite their mediocre performances.
I guess one can be forgiven only if she’s the girl next door type, like Sandra Bullock.
I actually thought that for a Harvard graduate, she didn’t sound particularly articulate (what’s with all the “likes”?).
The likes are apart of American culture now whether people like it or not. I know many intelligent women that use it like she does when stream-of-consciousness speaking from Florida and California, women in their 20s and 30s. I agree that the interview shows her intelligence. People hate on her hustle but if she didn’t have it she wouldn’t be where she is today, even though she comes from a privileged background (doctors and professors). I agree not thanking the dancer is tacky since she could have easily spun the interview that way but I can’t help but like her vs. ScarJo and her other contemporaries.
I just can never get over the fact that she is yet another actress who had an affair with a married man was never ‘villainized’ for it. It fascinates me how some actors/celebrities/musicians/singers are given a pass on practically everything while its still ‘grist for the mill’ for others decades later.
That aside, I’ve enjoyed her in some roles, but not in other. I think she was miscast as ‘Jane’ in the “Thor” franchise (Emily Blunt would have made a much better Jane), which became painfully obvious in the second “Thor” film. She’s a decent actress, but all in all–in my opinion–she’s another mouth-breather actress and I don’t get the ‘Big Whoo’ about her.
when did she have an affair?
It was rumoured she had an affair with Arronofsky, and some people even especulated that he is the real father of her son
Her rumoured affair with Aronofsky started during Black Swan and was allegedly the reason he and Rachel Weiss broke up. The gossip at the time of her Oscar campaign was the he was the real father of her son and she hooked up with Benjamin as she needed a father for the baby. The whole dancing saga was created to draw attention away from her sudden pregnancy and very quick engagement.
Whether its true or not doesn’t really matter – it was buried by the press either way. She does have previous for going after unavailable men.
I think she was also linked to Sean Penn at some point when he was married to Robin Wright. I think I may have read about it here.
@Betti – but wasn’t Benjamin himself in a relationship with a longtime gf at the time, that he split up with to hook up with Natalie?!
She’s very beautiful but sometimes says incredibly stupid and short-sighted things, and her campaign for Oscar was annoying as hell. Still, this isn’t a bad interview, I prefer a celebrity attempting to be articulate about stuff that isn’t themselves, than pretending they do nothing besides being a mom and playing house.
Aronofsky was not married.
It was rumored she was the straw that broke the camel’s back for sean and robin. I remember it well, because very little bad press had come out about her until that point.
Benjamin was in a relationship with another dancer at the time they met. Engaged and living with her but that didn’t stop Natalie. There’s a pattern with her.
Her parents probably have her Oscar somewhere in their house.
Gosh. There is so much about her that is unlikeable. She should really just stop talking to the press.
So I guess every educated opinion on celebitchy is going to get called pretentious. Hooray for always being just middling.
I don’t know if her belief that French people only have serious conversations is really educated. It’s opinionated but I wouldn’t call it educated. Let’s get Frenchman Michael Vartan to weigh in…
I spend a lot of time hanging out with French people, and I actually kind of see her point. The French LOVE to talk politics, for example, whereas in the US, politics and religion are two huge no-nos that even families are often trying to avoid discussing for fear of disturbing peace.
I do think it’s a cultural difference. Obviously, it doesn’t mean that NO American ever discusses politics at dinner, just like it doesn’t mean that all the Frenchmen are discussing it every day (but seriously? Vartan is proof that Portman is wrong? Way to counter one anecdote with another), but I think that it is more accepted in France than it is in the US (not asking “who did you vote for” was actually a learned behavior for me when I moved to the US).
@Timbuktu
The Vartan thing was simply a joke. I suppose that kind of thing doesn’t translate well on a message board. I don’t think I stated Vartan was proof though – my statement on him was way too brief to be more than a joke.
I don’t necessarily think she is wrong (she knows more about France than I do since she’s married to a Frenchman and lives there) and I wasn’t going out of my way to prove her wrong, but I think the way she expressed herself on this observation came across as more of an opinion (and somewhat pretentious) than as a well-articulated, educated stance. I think that was more of my point than her actually being incorrect about the cultural differences, which I don’t think she expressed that well.
“The French LOVE to talk politics, for example, whereas in the US, politics and religion are two huge no-nos that even families are often trying to avoid discussing for fear of disturbing peace.”
This is SO true. The difference between Americans and the French when it comes to politics is really startling. I’ve also found that political discussions do not get anywhere near as heated nor as personal with my French relatives as it does with my American relatives. They’ll state their opinion very passionately but are completely fine with agreeing to disagree.
That being said, I am so. damn. tired. of Americans being stereotyped as a bunch of uneducated, uncultured, superficial buffoons.
@ timbuktu. I’m part French, and I disagree. People are basically the same everywhere. I will say that I’m more impressed with my American colleagues and friends than I am with the French ones.
My thoughts exactly.
I couldn’t finish Black Swan. It is a pretty silly rip off of a Japanes anime film, Perfect Blue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbN2sWFOfe4
What she did to the dancer was mean and demeaning. Anybody who knows a real ballet dancer knows that it takes a lifetime of hard work to be able to move like that.
Wow, I didn’t know about the Japanese film.
Natalie is just like any other actress, they think acting like XYZ equals to being that as well therefore they’re above others.
“I’m a superhero, I save the world, I’m God”.
Hahaha, that reminded me of Chalton Heston. I don’t know wether is true or not but there was the rumour that he believed he kind of though of himself as Benhur or some other character he played.
There is another Hollywood version of a Japanese anime film coming out soon, Ghost In the Shell wit ScarJo. But at least they are not lying about it this time! 🙂
Hmmm, I saw “Perfect Blue” years before BS, and it never once came to mind while watching it. I suppose it falls along the same lines of losing what you are in the pursuit of something, but Blue strikes me as more of a critique (or warning, really) about the pitfalls of celebrity culture while Swan struck me as a study of obsession…sort of like all of Arofnosky’s work, heh.
There is some good buzz about her movie apparently, like it’s not going to get booed at Cannes. *looking at you Ryan*.
It’s good to know she is against that racist war criminal Netanyahu, and I kind of understand that she didn’t want to take her criticism to the next level as these are very delicate political things.
I’ll only side-eye her with the Oscar thing. She campaigned like crazy and lied about the dancing.
Also, the idol worship thing is related in Moses’ Exodus not with Abraham.
Natalie, trying hard to out-goop Goopy Paltrow.
I just can’t with her – she’s such a pretentious snob, who lied about dancing and her relationship to get an Oscar (remember Benjamin was already in a long term relationship with someone else when she got pregnant – she has history of going after unavailable men).
Oh please you find Netanyahu’s racist comments horrific but think its perfectly acceptable for Roman Polanski to drug and rape 13 yr old girls. Shut up and go away – you know nothing Natalie Portman!
I can’t stand people bashing or gushing about cities (LA/Paris for example) using postcard stereotyped images that are so reductive, specially coming from people who should know better. The “holier than you” attitude about this annoys so much!
LA can be shi**y if you surround yourself with wannabes and people from the “industry”. But families live there, artists, there museums and theaters and the lovely Santa Monica mountains. depending on the neighborhood (obviously) there’s a real community feeling and people do use the Bus!
Paris isn’t the dream land, cultured place Natalie wants to sell us. Unless you live in a very sheltered arrondissment you’ll see that many are overweight, far from classy and probably love reality shows instead of Pompidou and books. There are lots of social tension about unemployment, race, discrimination, religions. You also have SO MANY tourists which can really transform parts of the city into a fake scenery.
My point is that it’s really easy to perpetuate stereotypes than simplify something that’s complex. It’s the same with nationalities. Ugh! *Rant over*
I agree – have visited both and both have their good and bad. She’s a goop wannabe ‘oh look i married a frenchman and live in Paris so I’m so much more cultured and refined than you’. Sweetheart, he’s french and WILL cheat at some point and its something that they are quite open about. I’ve worked with many french people over the years and the wives/husbands cheating is very common, particularly in the cities.
I’m not going into her personal life, but I do wonder if these people who travel so much and have the privilege to see so many different places and meet locals actually try do leave their bubble… Being a glob trotter who never leaves the hotel and the fancy restaurants doesn’t make you travelled or open minded at all. And she talks about Israel like she is above everyone who feels scared about fundamentalism… Right, because she lives under bombing threats and see kids dying on the streets… Oh wait… She seems to be a good example how education (read:good grades) isn’t the same as knowledge or wisdom. I’ve met regular folks with almost no education who are more self-aware and in touch with things than her. (Ok, I don’t know her, just from her interviews.)
She’s intelligent and thoughtful in her words, I like that about her. The oscar campaign was ridiculous and the pretence made me dislike her a bit but that’s Hollywood, they don’t succeed without being very pushy, persistent and advertising themselves as much better than they are.
She’s smart and I think she’d be an interesting person to talk to. Her acting very over rated though.
Agreed. Remember Star Wars?
Maybe the interviewer saw that piece on asking actresses superficial questions and went too far in the other direction
but that’s what you do to act like you’re above it all-when you’re too insecure to admit, ‘yeah, I wanted it bad.’ instead it’s, ‘oh that thing? eh-I could take it or leave it.’
Oscar is extremely overrated and important at once. With all the campaigning it involves no wonder so many of them have different perspective afterwards. They are going for respect this award means only to discover it’s just another popularity contests.
But it’s still extremely important, especially for young people and those who weren’t taken seriously, like M. McConaughey. At least for image purposes.
Not worshipping false idols means not putting anything before God. I doubt God is Natalie’s number one priority in life.
Of course she’s going to stick her nose in the air and get on a high horse about her Oscar after she won it. Now she’s doing that annoying thing pretentious actors do after they’ve won where they act like they don’t care about it.
Sarah Leal is that girl who had sex with Ashton Kutcher when he was married to Demi Moore and then sold her story to the tabloids. In the linked article about Black Swan, I believe it says the dancer/body double’s name is Lane…
bahahaha – I did that search too and was very confused as to how she had fallen so fast. Sarah Lane is most definitely the correct person.
She’s pretentious as hell but not completely off on the subject of Hollywood idolatry. Even Joseph Campbell discussed movie stars as the new American gods.
That cover…. holy cakey makeup Batman.
She’s right about one thing; Benjamin Netanyahu is a dangerous man.
Like someone above said, the Polanski thing is a worse reflection of who she is than her pretentiousness. It’s really freakin’ weird, actually.
I like her. She’s a very serious person but at least she’s genuine and she doesn’t celebrate the stupid and the crass, unlike Jennifer Lawrence etc. You can’t win. You’re either pretentious or too vulgar.