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A prodigy since she first stepped onto the screens inLéon: The Professional, Natalie Portman faced down the male gaze and twisted horrors of human nature at the age of 13. It was no news that Hollywood would turn the little actress into a star in no time but what wasn’t mentioned on the labels was that aspects of this job would also turn a young teenager into the object of desire for men across the world.
Natalie Portman [behind the scenes ofLéon]Also read:“It gave me my career”: Natalie Portman Devastated After $46M Movie Director Was Charged With Sexual Abuse Who SHaped Her Hollywood Career
Natalie Portman Had a Horrific Experience After Film Debut
To be 13 and wide-eyed about the scope and opportunities of Hollywood must go hand-in-hand, especially when the industry gave the said 13-year-old her first taste of fame and success.Natalie Portmanwas by no means ordinary. Her first role, Mathilde, in her debut film portrayed a complex young girl with a character entirely original that a teenager should not have been able to cultivate without being immensely skilled at her art.
Speaking at an LA Women’s March in 2018, Portman revealed the response she had expected after the premiere ofLéonand what she received instead:
I was so excited at 13 when the film was released, and my work and my art would have a human response. I excitedly opened my first fan mail to read a r-pe fantasy that a man had written me […] A countdown was started on my local radio show to my 18th birthday – euphemistically the date that I would be legal to sleep with.
At 13 years old, the message from our culture was clear to me. I felt the need to cover my body and inhibit my expression and my work in order to send my own message to the world. That I’m someone worthy of safety and respect.
Also read:“I think he was a genuine feminist”: Natalie Portman Revealed Director Burned Her Nude Footage in Her Oscar-Nominated Role to Make Marvel Star Comfortable
The implications of such a violent and volatile nature can be devastating to a young and artistic mind – and even though Portman remains resolute in her trade and continues to deliver powerful Oscar-winning performances, the traumatic experience of having to face those threats continues to exist in the aftermath of her film career taking off.
Natalie Portman Revealed the Aftermath of Young Fame
During an episode onDax Shepard’s podcast,Armchair Expert, the actress who recently became the Marvel superhero, Lady Thor, inThor: Love and Thunder, claimed how her perspective shifted in the aftermath of her roles as a teenager inLéonandBeautiful Girls:
It took away from my own sexuality because it made me afraid, and it made me [feel] like the way I could be safe was to be like, ‘I’m conservative’ and ‘I’m serious and you should respect me’ and ‘I’m smart’ and ‘Don’t look at me that way.’
Also read:“At the time it was very normal”: Natalie Portman Reveals Insane Amount of Sexism She Faced as a 13-Year-Old, Enough To Make Grown Men Cry
She branded the experience she had as a child “sexual terrorism.” With her roles getting increasingly radical and transgressive with time, there is no doubt (in hindsight) that she was trying to steer away from her sexually charged roles to a more didactic one. Her later appearances inV for VendettaandBlack Swanstand as proof of that.
Source:Women’s March 2018
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2409
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
