Natalie Portman was born on June 9, 1981 at Jerusalem, Israel. When she was 3 years old she and her family moved to Washington, DC, and from there to Connecticut when she was 7. Her father was a Fertility Specialist and she is the only child. She said that the place where she lived was lovely but very few things could be done from there.
From her childhood days Natalie Portman loved to dance. Portman isn't her real last name, it's her grandmother's maiden name. When she was 10 years old she was discovered by a Revlon representative at a pizza parlor in Long Island.
In the year 1994, director Luc Besson's 'Leon' was released and Natalie Portman made her debut playing the role of Mathilda. Portman was stunning in her performance and she proved that she's an actress to be reckoned with. She followed her debut with lesser performances and appearances but later on she was outstanding with 'Beautiful Girls' in the year 1996 starring opposite Matt Dillon and Timothy Hutton. She also starred in various films, like Michael Mann's 'Heat' in 1995 and Woody Allen's 'Everyone Says I Love You', and Tim Burton's 'Mars Attacks' in 1996, in which she played the daughter of President Jack Nicholson.
Portman until now has captured the minds of many for her mature sizzling performances, and for that has been known as one of Hollywood's most promising performers. Despite her stardom and fame Portman still behaves like a typical teenager who loves to chill out with her friends and watch Dawson's Creek. She also has a great passion for fashion. In 1995, Portman met George Lucas and later decided to play the exotic Queen Amidala in the 'Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'. Before taking this decision Portman had to decide, whether to continue acting or follow her father's footsteps and become a doctor. She then signed for the role of the young queen and future mother of Luke and Leia.
In 1996, she was also offered to play the role of Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet' but she did not accept because of the scenes and the age difference between Leonardo DeCaprio and her. In the following year she again turned down the title role of 'Lolita', because it contained sex scenes. Then she refused to appear in 'Anywhere But Here' at first in 1999 but later on agreed when the sex scene was removed.
Natalie is a vegetarian. Natalie can speak many languages fluently like Hebrew, French and Japanese.