Natalie Portman Personal life
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Education: By all accounts, Portman has always placed a premium on her education, and has held a 4.0 GPA throughout her high school and college academic career. She reported on a talk show, “I’d rather be smart than be a movie star” and that her goal was to graduate from college even if it ruined her acting career. Despite her high profile and the affluence of her parents, when 13 she switched (“because I couldn’t stand it anymore”) to the public Syosset High School in Syosset, New York, graduating in June of 1999.
Portman reportedly had to miss the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I so she could study for her high school final exams. After high school, she enrolled at Harvard College where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology on June 5, 2003. Portman is credited as a research assistant to Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz’s Case For Israel. She was a research assistant to Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn’s psychology lab as well. In 2005 Portman pursued graduate studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.
In addition to her native Hebrew and English, Portman has studied and/or can speak (to some degree) French, Japanese, German, and a little Spanish, and she is now learning to speak Arabic.
As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers which were published in professional scientific journals: Her 1998 high school paper on the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen earned her a semi-finalist placement in the Intel Science Talent Search. and In 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called Frontal Lobe Activation During Object Permanence (PDF) during her psychology studies at Harvard.
Relationships: Portman is notorious for keeping her personal life as far away from the media spotlight as possible. She has always had many close male friends and rumoured suitors who are frequently named as her boyfriends; the unverified gossip is often repeated as fact in tabloids and biographies.
In reality, Portman has dated a couple of her college classmates, and there is reasonable evidence for romantic links with actors including Gael Garcia Bernal, Liron Levo, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hayden Christensen. In Vogue 2002 (May), Portman called actor/musician Lukas Haas and musician Moby her close friends. She was linked to Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, but he claims they are friends.
The degree to which her apparent infatuation by a range of individuals is apparent, with a number of songs and albums named after her, including groups/DJs such as Intel One, Team Sleep, and Ozma. The make-up brand Stila has a lip-gloss named after her, and fashion designer Zac Posen refers to her as his “muse”.
Beliefs: Since a young age, Portman has held socially and environmentally conscious beliefs, becoming a member of the environmental song and dance troupe The World Patrol Kids at age 12. She is an “animal lover,” and has been a vegetarian since she was eight years old, the decision from which came after she witnessed a demonstration of laser surgery on a chicken while attending a medical conference with her father. She owns one dog, a Poodle-Schnauzer mix named “Noodles”. She also loves to read and is often found with a book.
Portman spends some of her free time involved in causes such as the Democrats’ 2004 U.S. presidential campaign and ending poverty. In 2004 and 2005 she travelled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA international, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in poor countries. In an interview for the Ecuadorian magazine Cosas in August 2005, she talked about her work with FINCA. She also confirmed that her religion was Judaism, although she was non-practicing.
Portman has also said in a June 2002 Rolling Stone interview that she is not opposed to a lesbian relationship: I’ve never dated a woman or anything like that, But, I mean, I think it’s much more the person that you fall in love with and why would you close yourself off to fifty percent of the people?
Controversy: Using a Fake ID? It was reported in the Boston Herald that on the night of December 7, 1999, then-18 year old Portman (along with a number of fellow students) was detained while attempting to enter the 21-and-over “Anti-Millennium” event at the Roxy theater in New York.
Roxy representative Jen DeBarge related to the paper that she was attempting to use a forged driver’s license to gain entrance. Reportedly, she had been invited to the event by Moby who was performing there that evening. Also reportedly, Moby was notified of the occurrence and refused to perform unless she was allowed to enter; she was then admitted, and security supervised as she stood in the back, watched the show, and didn’t drink.
In an online interview, Portman denies the details of the story, stating that there was no fake ID involved, and that she and her friends went home after they were denied entrance.
Topless frolickings: In August of 2000, tabloid photos surfaced of Portman sunbathing topless on a deserted island near Saint-Barthélemy, France.
“The creepy thing was there was someone there, someone following us,” she says. “I was just so angry – it makes you feel dirty inside… OK, everyone’s seen boobs, but I just don’t like being objectified. I don’t go wagging my boobs around in people’s faces. I was on a deserted beach.” She shrugs. “Today’s paper is used to pick up tomorrow’s poop – right?”
Wailing Wall kissing: On February 23, 2005, Israeli police moved Portman away from Jerusalem’s Western Wall after protests by religious Jews who were praying at the holy site. She and Israeli actor Aki Avni were filming a kissing scene near the Wailing Wall for the movie Free Zone.
This was deemed to be immodest and men who were praying heckled the couple until police stepped in and suggested they return later. The site is under the authority of Orthodox Judaism, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who is responsible for the site, said the actors’ behaviour violated the code of conduct.
Pulled over by the NYPD: It was reported that on July 8, 2005, Portman was pulled over by the NYPD while driving in a transit tunnel underneath New York City for looking unusual and having an expired registration. She had a shaven head from playing a freedom fighter in V for Vendetta, and had just arrived back in the United States. The policeman told her not to drive in the tunnel, but to take the bridge instead.
In 2010, Portman’s activist work and popularity with young people earned her a nomination for the VH1 Do Something Awards. The awards show, produced by Vh1, is dedicated to honoring people who do good and is powered by Do Something, an organization that aims to empower, celebrate, and inspire young people.
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