Natalie Portman Talks Motherhood, Hollywood Pressures, and Her Early Image

Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman has opened up about motherhood, the pressures of Hollywood fame, and the defensive image she cultivated early in her career in a new interview with Harper's Bazaar, published ahead of the release of her upcoming film, The Gallerist.

Reflecting on welcoming her third child in Paris, where she has lived for a decade, Portman described the profound joy of motherhood. This new experience has also given her a fresh perspective on her older children. She shares her 15-year-old son, Aleph, and 9-year-old daughter, Amalia, with her ex-husband, choreographer Benjamin Millepied, while her newborn is her first child with her partner, French musician Tanguy Destable. Portman contrasted the intrusive paparazzi culture in New York and Los Angeles—where dozens of photographers tracked her during her pregnancies—with the relative privacy and respect she enjoys in the French capital.

Recalling her early breakout roles in films like Léon: The Professional and Heat—a period she describes as a prolonged 'Lolita phase'—Portman explained how she deliberately adopted a serious, conservative persona as a protective mechanism. By emphasizing modesty, academic pursuits, and earning a psychology degree from Harvard University in 2003, she sought to counter the early sexualized image thrust upon her by the industry. Despite public perception of her as a rigid perfectionist, Portman insists she is actually easygoing, values humor above all, and is remarkably forgiving of herself.

Addressing early setbacks in her career, including harsh reviews for Léon and critical backlash over her performances in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Portman noted that experiencing early criticism proved to be a valuable lesson in resilience. Standing at 1.60 meters, the 45-year-old actress noted that people still sometimes treat her like a child, a notion she firmly rejects. Today, Portman says her ambitions are grounded in simplicity, finding genuine happiness in good food, word games, and cooking competition shows.