Posted on 11/07/2004 5:47:03 PM PST by Alouette
Actress Natalie Portman, whose performances in such films as Anywhere But Here and the Star Wars prequels The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones have made her one of Hollywood's hottest young stars, is now receiving good notices for her latest role – as a student at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.
The Israeli-born Portman has been quietly attending classes this autumn at HU, both in the graduate school and the overseas student program, while living off-campus. Although Portman is enrolled under her birth name, has refused interview requests from the media, and has asked the HU administration not to give out information regarding her studies, the actress's presence has not gone unnoticed by her fellow students.
"She looks very much like she looks in the movies. She's got a very pretty face and is relatively skinny," one of her classmates told The Jerusalem Post. "She looks like a typical third- or fourth- year college student. She doesn't dress in anything glamorous, and she speaks up in class. If I didn't know who she was, she wouldn't stick out."
Portman's presence at HU is not entirely surprising. She was born in Jerusalem in 1981, the daughter of a Israeli doctor and an American mother. When she was three, the family moved to the United States. In past interviews, Portman has talked with pride about her Israeli roots and said she keeps in close touch with her relatives here.
Last year, as a student in Harvard, Portman sent a letter to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper in defense of Israel. In February, 2003, she visited terror victims at the Hadassah-University Hospital in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem.
Portman shot to fame in 1994 playing an orphaned girl who is befriended by a professional hit man in Luc Besson's Leon. Next month she will be seen on-screen costarring with Jude Law and Julia Roberts in one of the year's most eagerly anticipated films, Mike Nichols's Closer.
In the meantime, her classmates at HU are giving her four stars as a classmate.
"She seemed very casual," says one who talked with her. "She seemed very approachable, and anybody that I know that's talked to her said she seemed very nice. And she wears less make-up than probably 80 percent of Israeli girls."
Her best work has been in Garden State IMHO. She wasn't bad in Closer, but the other 3 paled in comparison to Clive Owen.
I agree. I cannot say much for her acting either.
Good question. Because of Bush, Israel is better able to strike its enemies down, especially Iran (hint: sale of bunker busters).
She is hot, but she needs to wake up. Bush is a supporter of Israel. Iraq war made Israel safer.
That's true. Empire Strikes Back was so sucessful because GL had minimal involvement. Although his writing back then was far better than his writing now.
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