A feminist in cinema

During the fifty last years feminism took more and more importance for women, and for men as well. Feminism is also present among celebrities, artists, singers or actresses. Many celebrities have taken a stand in the feminist struggle. It began with some actresses like Delphine Seyrig in the 1970’s. And it continues nowaday with for instance Emma Watson, Angelina Jolie or Natalie Portman. And that's who we're going to talk about in this article.

Neta-Lee Hershlag

Neta-Lee Hershlag was born the 9th june 1981 in Jerusalem, she’s the daughter of an Israeli doctor, Avner Hershlag, and an american mother, Shelley Stevens. At the age of 3, the parents of Natalie Portman decide to leave Jerusalem to move to the Maryland state in the United-States because her father wants to finish his formation. After some years, her father Avner has the right to practice in the United-States and finds a job in Long Island in the state of New York. While she is 10 years old, Natalie Portman is approached by a cosmetic brand, Revlon, for an advertising campaign. But she declines the offer and says she wants to do cinema, the agents then help him to find some auditions.

The Beginning of the success

In 1994 Natalie Portman gets her first role at the cinema, it was the role of Mathilda with Jean Reno in the movie Léon by Luc Besson. It’s at this moment she decides to take the artist’s name Portman, it was her grandmother's maiden name.

Two years later, in 1996, she plays with the huge Al Pacino in the movie Heat where she plays his daughter. As well as in the dramatic comedy Beautiful Girls. In 1997 she plays in 2 movies, from Woody Allen and Tim Burton. And also in the theatre adaptation of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, a strong action considering she is Jewish and her grandparents are dead in Auschwitz.

In the same years she also plays in a movie that will propel his career to a new level. It was obviously the movie Star Wars, episode I : The Phantom Menace, the first part of the prelogy of Star Wars saga, where she plays Padmé Amidala, one the main characters of the movie. A role she takes on for the 2 following parts.

A career crossed with studies

In parallel to that Natalie Portman continues her studies and she integrates the prestigious university of Harvard and she settles in London to study psychologie 1999. The same year the film Anywhere But Here was released in which she plays a girl with a conflictual relationship with her mother. A film that she initially refused due to a sexual scene, but she finally accepts it after a rewrite of the script. A good choice because this movie allowed her to be nominated to the 2000 Golden Globes in the best supporting actress category. She continues her studies at Harvard until 2003 and next to that she plays in some like Star Wars, episode II : Attack of the Clones, and Cold Mountain with Nicole Kidman. As well as in the play The Seagull with Meryl Streep. After graduation in 2003 she gets involve in her career full time and and she will chain the success like Closer, Star Wars, episode III : Revenge of the Sith, etc… This until the release of the movie which is probably her greatest critical success, Black Swan. This movie earned her 24 rewards including the Oscar of the best actress in 2011 and the Golden Globe of the best actress in a dramatic film also in 2011. This obviously does not mark the end of her career.

A feminist above all !

With her impressive career Natalie Portman is without doubt a strong woman of the last years. But she’s also an assumed feminist, she is one of the actresses who do not want to use her body unnecessarily in sexual scene. She wants to make a name for herself with her talent and not her body. But above all, she has repeatedly claimed her feminism, like in november 2013 when she declared “The fallacy in Hollywood is that if you're making a 'feminist' story, the woman kicks ass and win. That's not feminist, that's macho”. Or also at the Golden Globes 2018 when she denounced the absence of women for the award for best director. Natalie also created a women’s football team in the company of many

celebrities like Serena Williams, Eva Longoria and Jessica Chastain, the club named Angel City Football Club should make its entrance in the championship in 2022. An assumed and engaged feminist and that for many years.