Navigating fame at any age is tough, but especially so as a child actor in Hollywood. Amid issues of breach of privacy and balancing education, females often have to deal with being sexualized. Natalie Portman also had a similar experience.
She made her film debut in 1994 with ‘Léon: The Professional’. The following year she starred in Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’ in which she played the troubled stepdaughter of Al Pacino’s character. Recently, Portman remembered how recognition came with challenges as she once read a review at the age of 13 that mentioned her “breast buds.”
Read More: Natalie Portman Reveals How She Grew 9 Inches Taller For ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’
Natalie Portman Recalls Being Sexualized At The Age Of 13
The ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ actress talked about being sexualized as a teenager with The Sunday Times. She said, “I think, in that time, it was very normal. … Some of it was the types of roles that were being written and some of it was the way journalists felt entitled to write about it.” Portman also recalled “reading a review of myself when I was about 13 that mentioned my breast buds.”
The actress revealed that she turned down roles that would’ve involved sex scenes because of her “defenses”. She explained, “It was like, I’m not going to be seen that way, because it felt like a vulnerable position and also a less respectable position, in some way, to be characterized like that.”
Portman On Getting Bigger For ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’
The actress also opened up about her body transformation for Taika Waititi’s directorial venture in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’, which is doing amazing business at the box office.
Talking about how bulking up as a female actress in not that common, Portman said, “It’s pretty unusual and wonderful to be tasked with getting bigger as a woman. Most of the body transformations we’re asked to make are to be as small as possible and there’s an emotional and sociological correlate to that.”
She added, “For someone to say, ‘Let’s see how much strength you can have,’ is a completely different psychological space to inhabit. I turned 40 while making the movie and it was an incredible point in my life to say, ‘You’re going to be the fittest, strongest version of yourself.'”
