Biography

From Leon to lightsabers

On 9th June 1981, Natalie Hershlag (aka Natalie Portman) was born to parents Avner and Shelley in Jerusalem, Israel. She is an only child; her father is a doctor and her mother is an artist.

At the age of three she moved to Washington D.C. but the family soon relocated again to New York. Here she attended Syosset High School and graduated with honors, and went on to study at Harvard, earning her degree in June 2003.

She began her acting career at the age of 11 when she was recruited as a child model. She then moved to acting making her debut in the film Leon in 1994. This was followed up by Heat in 1995 and Beautiful Girls and Mars Attacks in 1996.

1999 saw Natalie get her biggest break yet as Queen Amidala in the new Star Wars film Episode I – The Phantom Menace. This was followed up by Attack of the Clones in 2002 and finally Revenge of the Sith in 2005 among other films.

Natalie has been a vegetarian since aged 8. She can speak five different languages fluently and is trained in ballet, jazz and tap dancing. She is also interested in becoming a doctor like her father when she is older.