Natalie is well known for playing the part as Queen Padmé Amidala from the 1999 blockbuster film Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. This was the film that launched Natalie's career into superstar status. However, Natalie's entry into show biz takes place well before Phantom Menace.

Natalie was born 1981, in Jerusalem, Israel. Her father is a doctor and her mother is a artist. When Natalie was a small child her family moved to the United States where they lived in Washington for a few years.

Natalie's family later moved to New York, when at age 11 she was discovered by a modeling scout at a New York pizza parlor. Natalie gave the modeling a try, but she felt in her heart that modeling just wasn't her thing, she had alway had aspirations for being on stage and acting for the big screen. She spent summers attending the Usdan Theater Arts Camp, where she appeared in a number of local productions.

Natalie made her film debut in Luc Besson’s 1994 feature, The Professional. In the film she played the role of the daughter of the hitman’s apprentice. Her performance in the film caught the attention of many film critics, which led to her a role in the following movie as Al Pacino’s daughter in the 1995 film Heat. The following year she appeared in the film Beautilful Girls, which she got rave reviews along side cast members such as Uma Thurman and Matt Dillon. Later that year, she went on to appear in musical by Woody Allen titled Everyone Says I Love You , with Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts.

She followed up that musical with the movie Mars Attacks. However, after Mars Attacks she turned down the controversial role for the movie Lolita as well as the chance to co-star with Leonardo DiCaprio in William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, to which the part went on to actress Clair Danes. Natalie felt that the part for Romeo & Juliet did not suit her well because of the age difference between her and Leonardo and she felt that young actors should not be exposed to sex at such a young age.

So Natalie took a break from the big screen and in 1997 went off to Broadway, where she stared as Anne Frank in the Broadway production of The Dairy of Anne Frank. The Broadway play was a huge success for Natalies career, which she received acclaim reviews for her portrayal of Frank’s character.

In 1999, she returned to the bigscreen with a three-film contract with the release of George Lucas’s eagerly anticipated prequel Star Wars episode 1: The Phantom Menace . The film gave Natalie international recognition as well made her a historic film character for her role as Queen Padmé Amidala.

The same year the supermega hit movie Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace was released was also the same year that Natalie graduated from highschool. She had been having a superteen acting career, and a role in one of the biggest cult following films of all times the Star Wars series, while still keeping a straight A honor student in highschool.

After highschool Natalie went on to Harvard University, where she graduated with a degree in Psychology. During that time she went on to act in the prequel Star Wars episode 2 - Attack of the Clones which was released 2002, and will continue her role in Star Wars: Episode III, which will premiere in 2005.

This past august Natalie stared in the film Garden State, and this December you can see her co-staring opposite Julie Roberts in the film Closer.

Natalie has been on countless fashion magazine covers, she was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002, choosen as one of Teen People Magazine's "25 hottest stars under 25, she won the 2002 Teen's Choice Award for Star Wars: Episode II, and received a Tony nomination for her role as Anne Frank.

All this success, and she is still so so young, this Natalie Portman superstar role model !

 

Sites and info on the net:

• Elle Magazine: Natalie Portman
• Ask men.com : Natalie Portman
• Natalie Portman @ IMDb