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BIOGRAPHY

Natalie Portman
	BIOGRAPHY | GALLERY | GOSSIP

Natalie Hershlag, born June 9, 1981 in Jerusalem, Israel, better known under her stage name Natalie Portman, is an Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning Israeli-American actress.

Natalie Portman was born on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, Israel. The daughter of an infertility specialist and a homemaker/artist, Natalie (who uses her grandmother's maiden name to protect her privacy) left Israel when she was only three years old, and relocated with her family to Maryland, Connecticut, and finally Long Island, New York, where she still lives.

Natalie was discovered by a modeling agent in a New York pizza parlor when she was eleven years old, but didn't find modeling interesting. Instead, she wanted a more fulfilling career. Although she had no initial desire to become an actress, Natalie developed an interest in performing after attending the Stagedoor Manor Performing Camp for three summers, where she was cast in the theatre performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cabaret, Anne of Green Gables (as the lead character), and performed in Tapestry.

Natalie's film career started with her role in the 1994 film, The Professional (a.k.a. Léon), as an assassin's protégée. The following year, she appeared in the crime-drama Heat, alongside heavy hitters Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, and stole the screen from Uma Thurman in the 1996 film, Beautiful Girls. Her role in Beautiful Girls garnered rave reviews and that same year she could be seen in the Woody Allen musical, Everyone Says I Love You, as well as Mars Attacks!.

After having turned down roles in movies such as Lolita, due to her feeling that young actors should not be exposed to sex at such a young age and the role of Juliet in the modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (because of the age difference between herself and Leonardo DiCaprio), Natalie refused the supporting role in The Horse Whisperer, opting instead for the starring role in the Broadway production of The Diary of Anne Frank.

But the role that put Natalie on the road of stardom is that of Queen Padmé Amidala, in the first Star Wars prequel. Her three-film contract, which started with 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, has made her a historic film character. Ironically, Natalie had never even seen the original three Star Wars movies before being cast by George Lucas. Natalie's graduation from Syosset High School took place that same summer.

Since her role in Phantom Menace, Natalie has co-starred with Susan Sarandon in Anywhere But Here, and starred in the lead role with Ashley Judd in the film adaptation of Where the Heart Is.

Trilingual (Natalie is fluent in Japanese, English, and Hebrew) and having aspirations of becoming a doctor, Natalie is currently studying Psychology at Harvard University. Often referred to as "the new Audrey Hepburn," Natalie surely has a bright film career ahead of her... if she decides to remain an actress.