Natalie Portman opens up about being sexualised as a child actor as she admits to being ‘scared’ by it
Natalie Portman has explained how she 'protected herself' after being sexualised at a shockingly young age as a child star.
The Israeli-American actress first launched onto the acting scene back in 1994 aged just 12 years old with the role that made her a global success in the action-crime flick, Léon: The Professional.
Portman, now 43, went on to star in a number of other blockbuster smash-hits including V for Vendetta, Black Swan and Closer, but has sadly had to battle with a long history of being sexualised both on screen and off - something which shockingly first started when she was a child actor.
She's since bonded with the likes of 22-year-old Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega over their shared experiences of what growing up in Hollywood was like in an interview published by Interview magazine on Wednesday (16 April).
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Portman candidly opened up about what it was like being a child actor, defining that part of her childhood 'a very unusual, unique experience that not a lot of people share'.
She quickly learned about to protect herself against unwanted and inappropriate attention, explaining: "I think there’s a public understanding of me that’s different from who I am.
"I’ve talked about it a little before - about how, as a kid, I was really sexualised, which I think happens to a lot of young girls who are onscreen."
Admitting she felt 'very scared' by it, Portman noted: "Obviously sexuality is a huge part of being a kid, but I wanted it to be inside of me, not directed towards me."
Discussing her coping mechanisms to be sexualised at such a young age, the Academy Award winner continued: "And I felt like my way of protecting myself was to be like, 'I’m so serious. I’m so studious. I’m smart, and that’s not the kind of girl you attack'.
"I was like, if I create this image of myself, I’ll be left alone."
While acknowledging that such mental gymnastics 'shouldn't' have been something she had to even pay any mind to, Portman admitted that her tactics nonetheless 'worked'.
However, such a strategy impacted the way people perceived her as she got older.
"But I think that’s the disconnect between me being stupid and silly in real life, and people thinking that I’m some really serious bookish person," Portman went on, sharing that she is 'not a particularly private person in real life'.
She explained that, in public, 'it was so clear early on that if you tell people how private you are, your privacy gets respected a lot more'.
Reflecting that the showbiz industry has changed she was a teen with increasingly more women working behind the scenes, Portman highlighted that it's 'still so largely male'.
"But the conversation around [gender equality] has definitely helped a lot," the A-lister continued. "I feel like hair and make-up was always the female space. It’s quite stereotypical, but it’s true.
"So there was always this pocket on set where, as a kid, I felt safe and surrounded by women, and as I’ve gotten older, it’s only become more and more important for me to work with women."
With that said, however, Portman did note that there is still some major room for improvement.
Explaining the various roles she's taken on in her acting career, she said: "There are definitely tropes, and I think at each phase in my career, there was a different one that I was like, 'Oh, I’ve got to avoid this'."
Referencing Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov's controversial 1955 Lolita novel, a story which follows a much older man's obsession with a girl decades his junior, Portman added: "Obviously there was a long Lolita phase."
After that period of time, the star said she found herself in a long 'chick who helps the guy realise his emotional thing' phase for 'about a decade'.
And now, year later, she's now finding herself being approached for roles about 'mothers who have harmed children' but admitted she 'cannot emotionally go there'.
"So yeah, there’s a lot of the same tropes, but those are always helpful for pinpointing when something really special comes through," Portman resolved.
"It really stands out when you get something complex and beautiful and original."
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film
Rhiannon Ingle