Natalie Portman Biography:

Natalie Portman was born on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, Israel. The daughter of an fertility expert and an artist, Natalie has taken her grandmother's maiden name to protect her privacy. She left Israel at the tender young age of four and moved with her family to Maryland, Connecticut, and then to Long Island, NY. where her parents still live today.

Found by a modeling talent scout at a New York pizza shop at the age of twelve, Natalie was not interested by modeling and wanted to find a more rewarding job. While she had no early yearning to become an actress, Natalie built an interest in acting and performing after attending the Stagedoor Manor Performing Camp for three years.

Her first acting experiences came from her summers at Stagedoor Manor, where she was cast in stage performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Cabaret", "Anne of Green Gables", and "Tapestry".

Natalie Portman's sexy celebrity movie career started with her role in the 1994 film, "The Professional" also known as "Leon" with Gary Oldman and Danny Aiello,  as a mafia charge. The following year, Portman appeared in the crime drama film "Heat", next to heavy hitters Val Kilmer, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, and gained attention in the 1996 film, "Beautiful Girls", stealing the film away from another stunning actress Uma Thurman, and competing with an all-star cast that included Matt Dillon, Lauren Holly and Rosie O'Donnell, 

Her role in "Beautiful Girls" received great media and tabloid reviews, and that same year she starred in the Woody Allen star packed musical, "Everyone Says I Love You" with Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Goldie Hawn and Tim Roth. Portman next appeared in the zany comedy "Mars Attacks!" where Earth is invaded by Martians with irresistible weapons and a cruel sense of humor. "Mars Attacks!" was another opportunity to play alongside a powerful celebrity cast including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Jack Black, Christina Applegate and Lukas Haas.

After turning down several roles in movies like "Lolita" because of her feeling that young teen girls and actors should not be exposed to sex and nude scenes at such a young age, and the role of Juliet in "William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet" because of the age gap between Portman and Leonardo DiCaprio. Natalie turned down the supporting role in "The Horse Whisperer" giving it to Scarlett Johansson, opting instead to star as Anne Frank in the Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank". Portman was nominated for a Tony award for her performance.

But the role that turned Natalie Portman into a sexy Hollywood celebrity was that of Queen Padme Amidala, in the first "Star Wars" prequel. Her multi film contract, which started with 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" with Samuel L. Jackson and Keira Knightley , transformed her into a famous film role. In an ironic twist, Natalie had never seen the original Star Wars movies before being hired and cast by George Lucas.

Natalie's graduation from Syosset High School took place the same summer that the long awaited "Star Wars" prequel was released. After her role in Phantom Menace, Natalie co-starred with Susan Sarandon in "Anywhere But Here" (1999), and starred as the lead character next to Ashley Judd in the film variation of "Where the Heart Is" with Stockard Channing and Sally Field (2000).

Her next movies were "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" with Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson (2002), "Cold Mountain" (2003) featuring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Next was "Garden State" with Zach Braff (2004), and "True" (2004). In 2004, she stunned viewers in "Closer", co-starring Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Portman walked away with a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Natalie Portman speaks three languages - Hebrew, English and Japanese and studied psychology at Harvard University as well as the Hebrew University in Jerusalem while filming "Free Zone" (2005) about two young women who take a road trip after they are brought together by fate. She also appeared as Senator Amidala/Padme Naberrie Skywalker in the third movie "Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" working again with Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Portman's 2006 films included "V for Vendetta" where a shadowy freedom fighter known only as "V" uses terrorist tactics to fight against his oppressive culture. 

Natalie starred in several blockbusters in 2007 and 2008 including "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" with Dustin Hoffman and Jason Bateman, "My Blueberry Nights" featuring Jude Law and Norah Jones, "The Other Boleyn Girl" with Scarlett Johansson. Her next two films were the "The Darjeeling Limited" with an all-star cast including Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Bill Murray and Anjelica Huston, and finishing out the year with "Hotel Chevalier" - a short prologue of one heartbreaking history of love and the prologue of the travels told in The Darjeeling Limited.

Portman next appeared in the war drama "Brothers" (2008) with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire, about a young man who comforts his older brother's wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan. Based on Susanne Bier's film, "Brothers". Sge wrapped her year with the strange romantic comedy "New York, I Love You" with an all-star cast that included Shia Labeouf, Hayden Christensen, Kevin Bacon and Orlando Bloom, an anthology film joining several love stories set in one of the most loved cities of the world, New York.