Yesterday, we showed the cover for the February issue of Elle UK with Natalie Portman as cover girl. At the time, I didn’t have any interview excerpts from Elle UK, but now Huffington Post does. Natalie sounds… weird. She’s been giving a lot of weird interviews lately, hasn’t she? Like when she whined about being “bullied” by Hollywood. Maybe she’s going through something? Or maybe this is the woman she is now – self-absorbed, playing the victim, whining, et cetera.
Anyway, the most notable thing so far to come out this Elle UK interview is the revelation that Natalie – who was born in Israel, and who doesn’t like talking about her Jewish faith, and who defends Israeli artists – doesn’t want to play Jews in films. She says she “hates” the Holocaust genre of film (She hates Schindler‘s List?), and the first time she ever considered playing a Jewish girl was in New York, I Love You because she was “intrigued”.
Natalie Portman covers February’s Elle UK, and in her interview she discusses the sorts of roles she doesn’t like to take on–overtly Jewish characters, one-dimensional girlfriends and sex bombs.
Earlier this year Jerusalem-born Natalie broke one of her rules and played a Hasidic bride in ‘New York, I Love You.’ She now stars in the war drama ‘Brothers’ opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire.
On playing Jewish characters:
“I’ve always tried to stay away from playing Jews. I get like 20 Holocaust scripts a month, but I hate the genre. That was the first thing to come my way (New York, I Love You) that really intrigued me.”On rom-com roles:
“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do comedy. It’s just that I would only get offered girlfriend parts in guy comedies, which aren’t exciting to me, or those offensive roles in romantic comedies where the woman has to have a job in fashion so that she can have nice clothes, and her goal is always marriage.”On her role as a precocious 12-year-old in ‘Leon’ (‘The Professional’):
“There was a lot of controversy about the whole Lolita thing. My parents were super-protective about it, but I got a lot of weird letters. It was really upsetting. I didn’t want to be seen as a sex object, so I went in the opposite direction. I’m definitely not a prude about sex or nudity, I just don’t want to do something that will end up as a screen grab on a porn site.”
[From Elle UK via Huffington Post]
Um… she did nudity and sex(y) scenes in Closer and Hotel Chevalier. Does she think we’ve forgotten? And yes, her scenes (especially in Hotel Chevalier) were dissected heavily and there are photos of Natalie’s ass all over the internet. So, while I don’t blame her for being wary of doing nudity and sex scenes, it’s weird that she’s still pushing that line after she’s already done a few films where she was a sex object.
Elle UK photos (photographer David Slijper) courtesy of Fashion Gone Rogue.
*Headdesk* GAH!
offensive is your ego miss. P.
Best quote ever.
I just don’t get her. She’s obviously fairly intelligent, yet can’t seem to give an interview lately that doesn’t make her sound bad in one way or another.
She totally played Anne Frank in a stage production once, right? And she went from Leon to Beautiful Girls, where she was still a Lolita object. And even when she has done nudity, it wasn’t exactly artistic. She was in Star Wars, for crying out loud…she shouldn’t put herself above other actors because she pretends she avoids certain roles.
I just don’t get avoiding the Jew thing. Holocaust films are very powerful, and I love it when the right filmmaker gives a voice to the ones who had to suffer during that time.
She always comes across as pretentious to me, and her acting abilities are overrated. (Star Wars, anyone?)
At least she’s nice to look at.
She was not a “sex object” in Closer or Hotel Chevalier. She was nude or semi-nude and she did sexy stuff but nothing about those roles had anything to do with being an object. The characters she played were complex, interesting and beautiful and I understand why she took those roles. She has stated, especially since Hotel Chevalier, that she doesn’t like these pictures up on porn sites. That’s understandable. She’s still very cool for not dismissing nudity altogether, even if there are some pervs out there who get off on blurry screen grabs. “Pushing that line” and still doing nudity does not exclude itself, as far as I’m concerned.
when i give an interview for a magazine article about me where i talk about now wanting to be a sex object, i usually make sure that article is accompanied by a photo of me pouting and not wearing pants.
“I hate the genre…”
OK, Why?
Either they took her out of context (edited the quote), or that is the most open-ended statement ever put in print.
I do agree with her on the female rom-com roles, though.
just because she said she doesn’t like the whole haulocaust genre of films, doesn’t mean she’s ambivalent about being jewish. i love love love animals, but rarely watch animal movies because so often there’s cruelty or death involved (will never ever watch “old yeller” or “turner and hooch” because the dog dies).
and i can see her being a bit over it, in the same way that the red heads here don’t want to be called “gingers”, or blacks get tired of stereotypes of watermelons and fried chicken. she’s a young woman who doesn’t want to be stereotyped, and who can blame her?
She just tries too hard to be special, and sadly, she is not.
She’s happy enough to potray a steroetype of being an artist or intellectual in her interviews.
@andrea: LOL!!
I think she was saying she “didn’t want to be seen as a sex object” when she was 12 in The Professional, right?
I don’t think she sounds weird at all from any of these quotes.
SCREAMINGLY funny comment Andrea!
I suspect these are excerpts, but at the same time I think she doesn’t put a lot of thought into how she sounds. She’s also said things like (paraphrased) “actors who take roles for the money are prostitutes.” Well, it must be nice to be in a position where you can work only for the love of the art, but most people, actors or otherwise, don’t have that luxury. BTW, Natalie, did the ode to poetry that was Star Wars I, II, and III help you get to that position at all? Was that all about the pure artistry of acting?
And, not really related, I always remember the NYC cab driver who called in to a radio show to report that–and this was after Phantom Menace–Natalie Portman had given him $10 for a fare of $8.50 and asked for her change. Instant nickname? “Queen Cheap-i-dala.”
I’m not impressed with her at all, primarily because she seems to be so impressed with herself. And darned if I can figure out why, based on what I’ve seen.
She sounds hesitant not weird, people are reading too much into it.
Don’t want to love her, but this is brilliant: “those offensive roles in romantic comedies where the woman has to have a job in fashion so that she can have nice clothes, and her goal is always marriage”
Romantic comedies are supposed to be about women going after a guy and getting him. It’s supposed to be cheery fun and sugary.
Used to love her. But now, she’s just too self-important for me – oh, and the whole Polanski opinion.
@ Kat:
She definitely did do a very well publicized role as Anne Frank on stage, in fact I believe the stage production was even filmed so you may be able to rent it. I remember this because a few years ago I taught my 8th grade students “The Diary of Anne Frank” and the pictures in their text were all from the play with Natalie in it. So I don’t know how she can say that “I Love you, NY” is the first Jewish role she played.
I used to really admire her when she was 12 and in The Professional, she seemed like such a good actress and sweet person but she is obviously gone down hill in both acting skills and personality. Sad, really, to see someone’s ego get so big.
@Sakota: True, but some of these recent rom com just make the female leads either so insipid or so unrealistically over the top it’s plain cringeworthy.
I tend not to like romantic comedies, however, I saw 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden recently and I loved it.
She did play Anne Frank on Broadway, not to correct her on her own career choices or anything…
I don’t get the ego comments about her at all. And the excerpts from the interview sound fine too, nothing weird there.
The accompanying pics are gorgeous.
ugh so get over ytourself you sound so stupid! so self absorbed . she could have been insightful and intelligent she sounded so dumb. may flame for you is waning.. please say something smart and insightful the next time you open your mouth
She sounds fine to me. Actually it sounds like when she was 12 she had a lot of perverts sending stuff to her, which probably freaked her out. She’s always been outspoken about the nudity thing, which is why when “Closer” came out it was this big deal: Natalie is a stripper! Natalie takes off some clothes! …and then of course all the criticism for going the underwear route. Seems totally reasonable to me to not want to end up on porn sites, especially when it became clear at a young age that’s where that stuff ends up.
Also, it sounds like she just doesn’t want to be typecast as “Jewish girl”. The rest about not liking the genre seems reasonable too. Who loves the Holocaust genre? I watched Shindler’s List, thought it was a great film, but do I love it? It’s awful, awful stuff being portrayed, and I could see not wanting to be part of that kind of project.
I used to really like her….seems to be a sliding scale lately. I’ll just keep holding on to my Garden State Natalie. Don’t forget your helmet!
Don’t care for her. She sounds pretentious, don’t think she’s a good actress, and think there are many much prettier actresses out there.
In reading her interviews the past year, I’ve come to the conclusion that Natalie Portman is one nasty piece of work. No wonder she doesn’t have any friends and hasn’t been able to keep a man longer than 2 months. She’s just one major b*tch who doesn’t know when to shut up.
She’s like the Jewish Gwyneth. I think I’m going to call her Jewynth.
REALLY don’t understand why any of you hate her so profusely. I completely understand her distaste for the holocaust genre. Call me uptight, but it’s hard for me to watch a movie that portrays such horrendous moments for entertainment and money. It almost cheapens it, especially when they’re particularly gory and they exploit the suffering of millions. It always makes me feel terrible, like there are real victims turning in their graves at the thought of Americans enjoying cinema on their behalf. I feel the same way about graphic war movies and crime scene movies, where the goal is to shock and make people squirm. The ticket sales feel like blood money.
And now, to get off my soapbox and address the article, I just want to say that she seems intelligent and quite normal to me. She’s a Jew who doesn’t want to glorify the genre or become typecast. What’s so wrong with that? And the porn thing makes perfect sense. Her roles with nudity were not all about sex/nudity–like, say, Eva Mendes, Angelina Jolie, or Jessica Biel’s movies are. They had some depth to them. She never claims that she hasn’t done Jewish roles, she simply says they aren’t really an interest to her now, nor is the sexpot thing. Is anything she said really all that horrible? Really?
You mean besides signing a petition supporting a pedophile?
BitterBetty: Totally agree! She has done and said plenty to be unlikeable: support Polanski, equate meat eating to “rape”, say that Hollywood is “bullying” her – here’s a thought -don’t like Hollywood? Get a real job like the rest of us, no one is keeping you there.
Author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel doesn’t like Holocaust movies either, because he thinks they cheapen the memory of those who died. So I guess he’s an uppity bitch too.
i didn’t get the idea that she hates schindlers list. im sure she thinks it’s a fine film but she really doesn’t like holocaust movies… i mean does anyone really LIKE them? it’s her personal preference. I don’t think it’s that strange. She doesn’t want to get typecast as certain things and that’s one of them.
Everything else she said seemed pretty smart too.
I’m not even a fan of hers.
Bek–who cares if she plays Jewish roles or not. I mean really, who cares??? Her acting choices aren’t why people can’t stand her and won’t work with her–it’s her whiny, complaining, disloyal mouth. She needs to shut up before she alienates the entire Hollywood community.
Maybe she doesn’t want to do Holocaust movies because they’re depressing. I mean, they get me down just from watching them, I’d imagine that spending months being the character would be much worse.
And now, since I don’t like defending her: I think she’s overrated. I’ve never got her appeal, and she killed Star Wars. Ah, I feel much better now.
Except for supporting Polanski, I don’t get the hate. It’s very easy to make someone sound bad on the internet. You have to look at the way she said it, her tone, expression, etc. In every interview I’ve seen of her, she seems very respectful. Plus, she is a nice change from the gaggle of rom-com, air-heads Hollywood is always shoving down our throats.
Just a quick question.
She’s going to alienate the “hollywood” community????
She is in a new public role. She’s portraying the “rebel non-conformist”, breaking away from her culture “stuff”.
Reality check people : Hollywood is never going to alienate her and she is never going to alienate hollywood.
She needs to quit biting the hands that feed her. Stop whining and be thankful you have a career at all! I’m sure any actress would be more than happy to take your hundreds of scripts and get some work for pete’s sake…uh egomania. I love her movies and she is a fine actress,but like others in Hollywood,get off your high horse and act in movies. We do not need to hear about your political, or moral opinions..although it is funny to read.
I don’t blame her. Holocaust films are always the same. Sure, death and concentration camps weren’t heaven, but to portray every inmate like a saint is inaccurate and every Holocaust film does that on some level but if people read Viktor Frankl’s book, he writes a balanced view of his experience in a concentration camp and how it was really a survival for the fittest, even between Jews.
How ironic that she felt so uncomfortable at age 12 being seen as a sexual object. Does she really, truly not see the parallel to the girl Roman Polanski raped? That girl was 13, right? So it’s okay for him to have seen her as a sexual object and rape her, but it wasn’t okay for Natalie Portman.
Just another reason to dislike her. And the whole “educated” thing she gets – argh. Annoying. Just because she went to am Ivy League school does not make her smart or educated. It means she got a degree.
lol @ andrea with the pants!
@ Laney: Good point on the Polanski issue.
She is a pretentious young woman. She also supposedly defended Roman Polanski, the child rapist. I get so sick of seeing her in films, anyway.
i went to the anne frank play in new york and i thought she was amazing…how could she forget that role? i certainly can’t..
Oh, she most definitely signed that Polanski petition. I’m a regular lurker on ONTD, and they covered that pretty well when he was arrested in the fall. (I’d be a member, but they’re strict on letting people in – and my account isn’t exactly “busy” so they thought I was a liable troll when I tried to sign up) Anyway…
It’s something I’ll never, ever forgive her for. She just lost a fan for life with that move.
Although I don’t think that pretentious, self-absorbed, holier-than-thou woman really cares what I think of her.
It’s funny. I remember a very old interview of her saying that her parents were worried about her becoming an actress, because they didn’t want her to become corrupted. No joke.
Rico, please find another website to post at. It’s called Celebitchy because we pick on actors and other famous people, not entire ethnic groups. Grow up or go elsewhere.
Andrea is my hero! Hilarious!
here’s the thing-Natalie does say a lot of intelligent things. problem is she makes herself look like an idiot by contradicing said things with her actions.
It’s like you’re determined to take everything she says badly.
Most of my Jewish friends don’t like ‘overtly Jewish’ movies because they either lay it on thick with the Holocaust business or they roll in steretypes like a cat in catnip. There’s nothing wrong with trying to avoid playing that kind of stereotype.
And as for the nudity, this seems simply to be a failure of hers to understand that anything even vaguely nudish will end up being a screencap on a porn site. There is nothing wrong or hypocritical with her saying she didn’t do the Lolita film – which added scenes not present in the book – because she didn’t want to be a sex object and then her doing Hotel Chevalier. The sex scenes from those two movies are very different. In one, Dolores is an object, a fantasy, in the other her character is this guy’s emotional achilles heel.
Please don’t ask me why some people are bringing up Beautiful Girls because there’s nothing about that film that’s related to the discussion.
WTF is the ‘writer’ of this article even talking about?
Anyway, glad to see there’s at least one starlet that won’t be doing the Shopaholic type film.
@Sara 53
Thank you for saying what I am thinking. I will not be redundant and post since you have made it so clear.
This is not the woman she is NOW. This is the woman she has always been. As a teenager, same thing.
dont ya just love that viagra in your mouth