Natalie Portman: A Smokin' Hot Smartie

Michelle Shaffer
Alpha Chi Omega

I have always been a Natalie Portman fan, ever since I saw her in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. She’s gorgeous, talented and more fabulous than ever. Her fame has exploded since those Star Wars movies, and recently, she has been getting increasingly more press. With her artful and moving performance in Black Swan, her engagement to ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied, and her announcement of a baby on board, Natalie has a lot going for her career and her personal life. In addition, she recently won a Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and is in line for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Black Swan. Here are some things you probably didn’t know about the starlet who’s taking the cinematic world by storm:

1. She’s Jewish.

Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel where she lived for her first three years. She is a dual citizen of both the US and Israel and has been quoted as saying that raising her children in the Jewish faith is a priority for her.

2. Her name’s not Natalie Portman.

Her real name is actually Natalie Hershlag (which is Hebrew). Her stage name ‘Portman’ was actually her maternal grandmother’s maiden name. She took a stage name to keep her family out of the spotlight and maintain some privacy.

3. She’s really brilliant.

Natalie attended Harvard University, where she graduated with a degree in Psychology. She speaks English and Hebrew fluently, and also knows a lot of French and Japanese from taking classes at Harvard. Even as a child, she was always a straight-A student. She inherited her intelligence from her father, who is an Ob-Gyn/Infertility Specialist.

4. She’s a vegan.

Natalie has adhered to a strict vegetarian diet ever since she saw a demonstration of laser surgery on a chicken at a medical conference with her father at age 8. She became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals. Perhaps this is partially how she maintains such a trim figure, although one of her favorite foods is pizza

Obviously, this 29-year-old beauty is more than just another pretty face. I look forward to seeing what else this smokin’ hot smartie has in store!

Michelle is a sophomore studying management information systems.  You can reach her at michellesh@tamu.edu.