Jennifer Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning American film and television actress. Aniston began appearing in stage productions in the late 1980s. After several lesser-known film and television roles during the early 1990s, Aniston came to fame playing Rachel Green on the hugely popular television sitcom Friends for which she won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award.
She has since focused heavily on her film career, having starred in several successful Hollywood films, including Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly and The Break-Up.
[edit] Early life
Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California and grew up in New York City. She is the daughter of the Greek-American actor John Aniston (originally Ioannis Anastasakis) and actress Nancy Dow. Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick and Alex Aniston. Aniston's father was born in the island of Crete, while her maternal grandfather, Gordon McLean Dow, was of Scottish and English descent, and her maternal grandmother, Louise Grieco, was of Italian ancestry.[1] Aniston's godfather was the late Greek American actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend. Aniston spent part of her childhood in Greece, but most of it in New York City, where her father appeared in the soap operas Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow. In 1985, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Aniston's father starred on the soap opera Days of our Lives as Victor Kiriakis. Aniston graduated from Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Among her high school friends was future gay rights activist Chastity Bono. Aniston's desire to become an actress grew as she worked in Off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. During this time, she supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger.
[edit] Career
Aniston appeared as a "Nutri-System" girl on The Howard Stern Radio Show in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She moved to Hollywood and was cast in her first television roles in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga. She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the same year; the series, however, was quickly canceled. Aniston then appeared in two more failed television comedy shows, The Edge and Muddling Through, and guest-starred on Quantum Leap, Herman's Head and Burke's Law. After the string of cancelled shows, along with her appearance in the critically derided 1993 horror film, Leprechaun, Aniston seriously considered giving up acting.
Aniston's plans changed, however, after auditioning for Friends, a sitcom that was set to debut on NBC's 1994-1995 fall line-up. The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller, but she persuaded them that she was better suited for the role of Rachel Green. She was cast in the role and played the character from 1994 until the show ended in 2004. The program was very successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained wide renown among television viewers. Her hairstyle at the time, which became known as the "Rachel", was widely copied. Aniston received a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last two seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations, including a win for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series". According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Aniston (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.
Aniston was the very first guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The gifts she brought her are featured on every show.[2] She appeared on a promotional video for Microsoft about Windows 95 alongside her Friends co-star Matthew Perry.[3]
Aniston has starred in several theatrical films, including the cult hit Office Space. She gained the most critical acclaim for her role in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The film opened in relatively few theaters - under 700 in total - taking $14M in the U.S. box office. Jennifer's biggest box office success was her appearance in 2003's Bruce Almighty, in which she played the girlfriend of title character (Jim Carrey); the film grossed $243M at the United States box office and almost twice that worldwide. Aniston's 2004 film, Along Came Polly (opposite Ben Stiller), also did well at the box office after opening at the #1 spot. In late 2005, Aniston headlined two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It, both of which performed fairly at the box office, grossing over $36 million each despite little support from critics. In the same year, she appeared in a European Heineken television commercial frequently aired before UEFA Champions League matches.
She also voiced a character in the South Park episode "Rainforest Shmainforest".
In 2006, People magazine voted her Best Dressed. She was also labeled "the natural" by the same magazine.[4] The same year, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival, received a limited release, and grossed over $13 million. Aniston's next film, The Break-Up, which was released on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite lukewarm reviews.[5] It has currently grossed over $118 million at the U.S. box office and over $203 million worldwide. Aniston was involved in a controversy connected to this movie when outtakes from The Break Up revealing her topless appeared over the internet.[6]
She will co-direct a hospital emergency room-set short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson; Aniston has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who directed a short film in 2006.
Forbes listed Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007. She is behind such powerhouses as Oprah Winfrey, J. K. Rowling, and Jennifer Lopez and is ahead of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Olsen twins. Aniston's net worth is approximately $110 million.[7] Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006.[8]
Aniston is viewed as the originator of “the Rachel”, a hairstyle that became very popular among young women in the 1990's. The style is claimed to have been created by Aniston's hairstylist, Chris McMillan.
In 2007, Aniston was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[9][10]
Also in 2007 Jennifer became the image of glacéau,smartwater.
[edit] Personal life
Aniston has previously dated musician Adam Duritz, actor Paul Rudd and was engaged to actor Tate Donovan. Her high-profile relationship with actor Brad Pitt was frequently publicized in the press. She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding. Pitt later became romantically involved with actress Angelina Jolie while he and Jolie were filming the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Aniston and Pitt later separated on January 7, 2005, and Aniston officially filed for divorce on March 25, 2005. The divorce was finalized on October 2, 2005.
Media reports have speculated that the split was due to Aniston's refusal to have children. Aniston vehemently denied the latter in an August 2005 Vanity Fair interview, stating, "I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children... I've always wanted to have children, and I would never give up that experience for a career."
She has also stated that the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped to make the separation from Pitt easier, more than a year ago was "devastating."[11] Summing up her relationship with Pitt, Aniston has said that their relationship, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."[12]
Since the couple's divorce, Aniston has been romantically linked with actor Vince Vaughn.[13] In August of 2006, Aniston denied rumors that the two were engaged or that Vaughn had proposed.[14] In October 2006, gossip magazine Us Weekly quoted sources from Vaughn that the couple had split. "Jen lives in a crazy crazy world with all the press. It's just not his world."[15] In December 2006, reps for both Aniston and Vaughn confirmed that they had indeed split up a few weeks before when Aniston visited Vaughn in London.
Courtney Cox Arquette is Aniston's best friend. In 2007, Aniston was invited to guest star in an episode of Arquette's new television show Dirt. Aniston played Arquette's snobby rival Tina Harrod on March 27. [16] Jennifer Aniston is also the godmother of Courtney's child, Coco.
She has had two septoplastys to thin her deviated septum: one incorrectly done in 1994 and one in early 2007. This is a simple medical procedure which helps cure the common condition which can lead to breathing difficulty and trouble sleeping. Tabloids reported this as a "nose job."[
Showing posts with label Actress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Actress. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2007
Halle Berry
Halle Maria Berry (born August 14, 1966[1]) is an American actress. Berry has received Emmy and Golden Globe awards, and was awarded the Academy Award in 2002 for her performance in Monster's Ball. She is the only woman of African American descent to have won the award for Best Actress.
Early life and career
Berry's parents selected her first name from Halle's Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio. She is the daughter of Englishwoman Judith Ann Hawkins, a Liverpudlian,[2] and Jerome Jesse Berry, who is African American. Berry's maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Earl Ellsworth Hawkins (an American), was born in Ohio.[3] Berry's parents divorced when she was 4 years old and she was subsequently raised by her mother, a psychiatric nurse. Her father was an orderly in the same psychiatric ward where her mother worked and later worked as a bus driver.[4] Berry has two older sisters, Heidi, who was born two years before her, and Renee (from a different mother).
Berry was a popular student at Bedford High School and was a cheerleader, honor society member, editor of the school newspaper, class president and prom queen. She worked in the children's department at Higbee's Department store. She subsequently attended Cuyahoga Community College.
Before becoming an actress, she entered several beauty contests, winning Miss Ohio USA and Miss Teen All-American. Other entries include Miss USA (first runner-up in 1986 to Christy Fichtner of Texas, the second of the Texas Aces), and sixth place in Miss World 1986 (the winner being Trinidad and Tobago's Giselle Laronde). In the Miss USA 1986 pageant interview competition, she said she hoped to become an entertainer, or to have something to do with the media or newspaper. Her interview was awarded the highest score by the judges.[5]
In 1989, during the taping of the short-lived television series Living Dolls, Berry lapsed into a coma and was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1.[6]
[edit] Hollywood career
In the late 1980s, she went to Chicago to pursue a modeling career as well as acting. One of her first acting projects was a television series for local cable by Gordon Lake Productions called Chicago Force. In 1992, Berry was cast as the love interest in the video for R. Kelly's seminal hit, "Honey Love". Berry auditioned for a role in an updated Charlie's Angels television series by producer Aaron Spelling. She impressed Spelling and he encouraged her to continue acting.
In 1989, Berry landed the role of Emily Franklin in the short-lived ABC television series Living Dolls (a spin-off of Who's the Boss?). Her breakthrough feature film role was in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever in which she played a drug addict named Vivian. Her first co-starring role was in the 1991 film Strictly Business. In 1992, Berry portrayed a career woman who falls for Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy Boomerang. That same year, she caught the public's attention as a headstrong biracial slave in the TV adaption of Queen: The Story of an American Family, based on the book by Alex Haley. Berry also played the sultry secretary in the live action Flintstones movie as "Sharon Stone".[7]
Playing a former drug addict struggling to regain custody of her son in Losing Isaiah (1995), Berry showed she could tackle more serious roles, holding her own opposite co-star Jessica Lange. She portrayed Sandra Beecher in Race the Sun (1996), which was based on a true story, and co-starred along side Kurt Russell in Executive Decision. In Bullworth, Berry received praise for her role as an intelligent woman raised by activists who gives politician Warren Beatty a new lease on life, and as the singer Zola Taylor, one of the three wives of pop singer Frankie Lymon, in the biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love both in 1998.
In the 1999 film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Berry portrayed the first black woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. In this HBO biopic, Berry's performance was recognized with several awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe. (She was also one of the producers of the project.)
Berry portrayed the mutant Storm in the movie adaptation of the popular comic book series X-Men (2000) and its successful sequels X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In late 2001, Berry appeared as Leticia Musgrove, the wife of an executed murderer, in the film Monster's Ball. Her performance was awarded the National Board of Review and the Screen Actors Guild prizes. The role earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress: she made history by becoming the first African American woman to earn a Best Actress Academy Award.
As Bond Girl Jinx in the (2002) blockbuster Die Another Day she famously re-created the scene from Dr. No, bursting from the surf to be greeted by James Bond, as Ursula Andress had 40 years earlier. In late 2003, Berry starred in the psychological thriller Gothika opposite Robert Downey Jr. Her next lead role was in the film Catwoman, for which she was awarded a "worst actress" Razzie award in 2005, which she accepted in person with a sense of humor and recognition that "to be at the top, you must experience the rock bottom".
Berry next appeared in the Oprah Winfrey-produced ABC telepic Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's novel, in which Berry portrayed Janie Crawford, an iconoclastic, free-spirited woman whose unconventional mores regarding relationships upset her 1920s contemporaries in her small community. Meanwhile, she voiced the character of Cappy, one of the many mechanical beings in the animated feature, Robots (2005). She has filmed the thriller Perfect Stranger with Bruce Willis and wrapped shooting Things We Lost in the Fire with Benicio Del Toro. She is set to star in Class Act, based on the real life story of a teacher whose students helped her run for political office and "Tulia", which will reunite her with Monster's Ball costar Billy Bob Thornton.
Berry is making the transition to working on the production side of film and television. She is working with author Angela Nissel to executive produce a comedy series based on Nissel's two memoirs, The Broke Diaries and Mixed: My Life in Black and White.[8] Berry has served many years as the face of Revlon cosmetics, and was recently named the face of Versace. She is featured in Maxim magazine's Girls of Maxim gallery.[9]
Berry is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, commanding $14 million each for Gothika and Catwoman. In July 2007 she topped In Touch magazine's list of the world's most fabulous 40-something celebrities. [10]
[edit] Personal life
Berry at 2003's ComicCon in San Diego, CABerry has been married twice. Her first marriage in 1992 to pro baseball player David Justice ended in divorce in 1996. Justice played with the Atlanta Braves and experienced a measure of fame as the team rose to prominence in the early 1990s. The couple found it difficult to maintain their relationship while he was playing baseball and she was filming elsewhere. Berry has stated publicly that she was so despondent after her breakup with Justice that she considered taking her own life.[11]
Her second marriage in 2001 to musician Eric Benét resulted in a 2004 separation and 2005 divorce. In 2004, after the separation, Berry stated "I want love, and I will find it, hopefully".[12] While married to Benét, Berry made plans to adopt Eric's daughter, India. However, the process was never finalized.
As of 2005, she was dating French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry, who is nine years her junior. The couple met at a Versace photoshoot. After six months with Aubry, she stated in an interview "I'm really happy in my personal life, which is a novelty to me. You know I'm not the girl that has the best relationships".[13]
Berry revealed on Extra that she plans to adopt children. "I will adopt if it doesn't happen for me naturally", she said. "I will definitely adopt. And I probably will adopt even if it does happen naturally". (Aubry, who lived in five foster families between the ages of 3 and 18, is presumably open to being an adoptive parent as well.)[12] Later, she stated "I never want to be married again. I guess you could say I have bad taste in men. But I no longer feel the need to be someone's wife. I don't feel like I need to be validated by being in a marriage".[14]
[edit] Racial self-identification
Berry has stated that the manner in which people have reacted to her is often the result of ignorance. Her own self-identification has been influenced by her mother. She is quoted as saying her mother taught her not to discriminate because we're all part of the same race; the human race.[15]
Controversy
February 2000, Berry was involved in a car accident in which she struck a vehicle after running a red light, and left the scene before the police arrived. Berry, who had sustained a head injury, stated she had no recollection of the accident and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge. She paid a fine, made restitution to the other driver, performed community service, and was placed on three years’ supervised probation by the Los Angeles County Adult Probation Office.[16]
Early life and career
Berry's parents selected her first name from Halle's Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio. She is the daughter of Englishwoman Judith Ann Hawkins, a Liverpudlian,[2] and Jerome Jesse Berry, who is African American. Berry's maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Earl Ellsworth Hawkins (an American), was born in Ohio.[3] Berry's parents divorced when she was 4 years old and she was subsequently raised by her mother, a psychiatric nurse. Her father was an orderly in the same psychiatric ward where her mother worked and later worked as a bus driver.[4] Berry has two older sisters, Heidi, who was born two years before her, and Renee (from a different mother).
Berry was a popular student at Bedford High School and was a cheerleader, honor society member, editor of the school newspaper, class president and prom queen. She worked in the children's department at Higbee's Department store. She subsequently attended Cuyahoga Community College.
Before becoming an actress, she entered several beauty contests, winning Miss Ohio USA and Miss Teen All-American. Other entries include Miss USA (first runner-up in 1986 to Christy Fichtner of Texas, the second of the Texas Aces), and sixth place in Miss World 1986 (the winner being Trinidad and Tobago's Giselle Laronde). In the Miss USA 1986 pageant interview competition, she said she hoped to become an entertainer, or to have something to do with the media or newspaper. Her interview was awarded the highest score by the judges.[5]
In 1989, during the taping of the short-lived television series Living Dolls, Berry lapsed into a coma and was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1.[6]
[edit] Hollywood career
In the late 1980s, she went to Chicago to pursue a modeling career as well as acting. One of her first acting projects was a television series for local cable by Gordon Lake Productions called Chicago Force. In 1992, Berry was cast as the love interest in the video for R. Kelly's seminal hit, "Honey Love". Berry auditioned for a role in an updated Charlie's Angels television series by producer Aaron Spelling. She impressed Spelling and he encouraged her to continue acting.
In 1989, Berry landed the role of Emily Franklin in the short-lived ABC television series Living Dolls (a spin-off of Who's the Boss?). Her breakthrough feature film role was in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever in which she played a drug addict named Vivian. Her first co-starring role was in the 1991 film Strictly Business. In 1992, Berry portrayed a career woman who falls for Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy Boomerang. That same year, she caught the public's attention as a headstrong biracial slave in the TV adaption of Queen: The Story of an American Family, based on the book by Alex Haley. Berry also played the sultry secretary in the live action Flintstones movie as "Sharon Stone".[7]
Playing a former drug addict struggling to regain custody of her son in Losing Isaiah (1995), Berry showed she could tackle more serious roles, holding her own opposite co-star Jessica Lange. She portrayed Sandra Beecher in Race the Sun (1996), which was based on a true story, and co-starred along side Kurt Russell in Executive Decision. In Bullworth, Berry received praise for her role as an intelligent woman raised by activists who gives politician Warren Beatty a new lease on life, and as the singer Zola Taylor, one of the three wives of pop singer Frankie Lymon, in the biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love both in 1998.
In the 1999 film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Berry portrayed the first black woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. In this HBO biopic, Berry's performance was recognized with several awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe. (She was also one of the producers of the project.)
Berry portrayed the mutant Storm in the movie adaptation of the popular comic book series X-Men (2000) and its successful sequels X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In late 2001, Berry appeared as Leticia Musgrove, the wife of an executed murderer, in the film Monster's Ball. Her performance was awarded the National Board of Review and the Screen Actors Guild prizes. The role earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress: she made history by becoming the first African American woman to earn a Best Actress Academy Award.
As Bond Girl Jinx in the (2002) blockbuster Die Another Day she famously re-created the scene from Dr. No, bursting from the surf to be greeted by James Bond, as Ursula Andress had 40 years earlier. In late 2003, Berry starred in the psychological thriller Gothika opposite Robert Downey Jr. Her next lead role was in the film Catwoman, for which she was awarded a "worst actress" Razzie award in 2005, which she accepted in person with a sense of humor and recognition that "to be at the top, you must experience the rock bottom".
Berry next appeared in the Oprah Winfrey-produced ABC telepic Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's novel, in which Berry portrayed Janie Crawford, an iconoclastic, free-spirited woman whose unconventional mores regarding relationships upset her 1920s contemporaries in her small community. Meanwhile, she voiced the character of Cappy, one of the many mechanical beings in the animated feature, Robots (2005). She has filmed the thriller Perfect Stranger with Bruce Willis and wrapped shooting Things We Lost in the Fire with Benicio Del Toro. She is set to star in Class Act, based on the real life story of a teacher whose students helped her run for political office and "Tulia", which will reunite her with Monster's Ball costar Billy Bob Thornton.
Berry is making the transition to working on the production side of film and television. She is working with author Angela Nissel to executive produce a comedy series based on Nissel's two memoirs, The Broke Diaries and Mixed: My Life in Black and White.[8] Berry has served many years as the face of Revlon cosmetics, and was recently named the face of Versace. She is featured in Maxim magazine's Girls of Maxim gallery.[9]
Berry is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, commanding $14 million each for Gothika and Catwoman. In July 2007 she topped In Touch magazine's list of the world's most fabulous 40-something celebrities. [10]
[edit] Personal life
Berry at 2003's ComicCon in San Diego, CABerry has been married twice. Her first marriage in 1992 to pro baseball player David Justice ended in divorce in 1996. Justice played with the Atlanta Braves and experienced a measure of fame as the team rose to prominence in the early 1990s. The couple found it difficult to maintain their relationship while he was playing baseball and she was filming elsewhere. Berry has stated publicly that she was so despondent after her breakup with Justice that she considered taking her own life.[11]
Her second marriage in 2001 to musician Eric Benét resulted in a 2004 separation and 2005 divorce. In 2004, after the separation, Berry stated "I want love, and I will find it, hopefully".[12] While married to Benét, Berry made plans to adopt Eric's daughter, India. However, the process was never finalized.
As of 2005, she was dating French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry, who is nine years her junior. The couple met at a Versace photoshoot. After six months with Aubry, she stated in an interview "I'm really happy in my personal life, which is a novelty to me. You know I'm not the girl that has the best relationships".[13]
Berry revealed on Extra that she plans to adopt children. "I will adopt if it doesn't happen for me naturally", she said. "I will definitely adopt. And I probably will adopt even if it does happen naturally". (Aubry, who lived in five foster families between the ages of 3 and 18, is presumably open to being an adoptive parent as well.)[12] Later, she stated "I never want to be married again. I guess you could say I have bad taste in men. But I no longer feel the need to be someone's wife. I don't feel like I need to be validated by being in a marriage".[14]
[edit] Racial self-identification
Berry has stated that the manner in which people have reacted to her is often the result of ignorance. Her own self-identification has been influenced by her mother. She is quoted as saying her mother taught her not to discriminate because we're all part of the same race; the human race.[15]
Controversy
February 2000, Berry was involved in a car accident in which she struck a vehicle after running a red light, and left the scene before the police arrived. Berry, who had sustained a head injury, stated she had no recollection of the accident and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge. She paid a fine, made restitution to the other driver, performed community service, and was placed on three years’ supervised probation by the Los Angeles County Adult Probation Office.[16]
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (Hebrew: נטלי פורטמן), born Natalie Hershlag (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג) on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, Israel[1] is a Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award-nominated Israeli-American actress.
Early life
Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel. Her father, Avner Hershlag, is an Israeli medical doctor specializing in the research and treatment of human fertility and reproduction (reproductive endocrinology).[2][3] Her mother, Shelley Stevens, is a Jewish American homemaker who now works as her agent (she is an artist[4] by hobby and not profession). Portman's father's family members are descendants of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Romania, while her mother's family members were Jewish immigrants from Austria and Russia; her paternal grandfather's parents died in Auschwitz and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for the British during World War II.[5]
Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where Portman's mother was selling tickets. Portman's father returned to Israel, but the two corresponded and were married when Portman's mother visited Israel a few years later. When Portman was three years old, her family moved from Israel to her mother's native United States, where her father pursued his medical training. The family lived in Washington, D.C. in 1984 (she attended the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School), and then Connecticut in 1988, before finally settling down in Syosset, New York in 1990.
Portman has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home."[5] Portman is an only child and very close to her parents, who are often seen with her at her film premieres; when Portman was young, her mother always accompanied her to filming locations.[citation needed]
[edit] Early career
Portman started taking dancing lessons at the age of four, performed in local troupes, and dreamed of dancing on Broadway. At the age of 12 Portman was discovered in a pizza parlor by an agent for Revlon, who offered her an opportunity to model. She asked to be introduced to acting talent scouts instead of modeling agents, however. Referring to her discovery in an interview with Blender Magazine, Portman says, "I was definitely different from the other kids. I was more ambitious, I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid." [6]. She then took "Portman", her grandmother's maiden name, as her professional stage surname.[citation needed]
As a child, Portman spent her school holidays attending theater camps. In 1993, Portman was cast in her first professional role, as an understudy for the off-Broadway musical Ruthless!.[citation needed] The following year, she auditioned for Luc Besson's film Léon (aka The Professional). She was initially turned down, but through further auditioning won the part. Soon after getting the part, she took Portman as her stage name in the interest of privacy (in the Director's Cut of the film found on DVD she is credited as Natalie Hershlag). In the film, Portman plays an orphaned girl who befriends a much older assassin. Léon opened on November 18, 1994, and marked her feature film debut at age 12. That same year she appeared in the short film Developing, which aired on television. Starting at age 13, Portman spent her school holidays attending upscale theater camps Stagedoor Manor and Usdan Camp, where she fell in love with acting, playing roles in camp productions such as the title character in Anne of Green Gables, Dream Laurey in Oklahoma!, and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
[edit] 1995–1999
During the mid-1990s, Portman had roles in the films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls. She was also offered a role in the film Anywhere But Here, but turned the part down after learning it would involve a sex scene. Director Wayne Wang and actress Susan Sarandon demanded a rewrite of the script. Portman was shown a new draft, and she joined the project. In 1997, Portman played the role of Anne Frank in the Broadway play of The Diary of Anne Frank. In early 1999, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace opened and became the highest grossing film of the year and the second highest grossing film out of the Star Wars series. Its massive audience and mainstream appeal made Portman an instant star. Portman then signed on to play a persevering teenaged mother in Where the Heart Is. Anywhere But Here opened in late 1999; she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ann August. In the late 1990s, she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
[edit] 2000–2005
She placed a priority on her education, and pursued tertiary studies at Harvard University as a psychology major, despite the chance it might conflict with her acting career. After filming Where the Heart Is, Portman moved into the dorms of Harvard to pursue her bachelor's degree in psychology. She said in a 1999 interview that, with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she would not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying. She graduated in 2003.
In July 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols, playing the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The play opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. That same year she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the comedy Zoolander. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was filmed in Sydney during this time, including additional production in London.
In 2002, Attack of the Clones opened around the world. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.
In 2004, Portman appeared in the independent movies Garden State and Closer. Garden State was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Her role of Alice in Closer saw Portman win a Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.
In 2005, she filmed Free Zone and the final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, released worldwide on May 19. The film was the highest grossing film of the year, and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Shortly before the film's opening, Portman shaved her head for her role in the film adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel, V for Vendetta, released in March 2006. Her shaved head was first seen publicly at the Revenge of the Sith premieres. She kept her hair short for most of 2005, had a faux hawk, and briefly sported a full mohawk in late August, saying that it was "kind of wonderful to throw vanity away for a bit".[7] During the latter part of 2005, Portman filmed Goya's Ghosts. Legendary director Milos Forman hadn't seen any of her work, but thought she looked like a Goya painting so he requested a meeting. During the filming of Goya's Ghosts, she partied in Madrid with co-star Javier Bardem, but was largely unrecognized due to her mohawk. She also attended soccer games with co-star Stellan Skarsgård.[citation needed]
[edit] 2006–present
Portman appeared on Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2006,[8] hosting the show with musical guest Fall Out Boy and special guest star Dennis Haysbert. In a now-famous SNL Digital Short,[9] she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flava Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on pot.[10] The skit is available as an easter egg on the second disc of the 2 disc special edition DVD release of V for Vendetta. In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession).
Portman promoting V for Vendetta at Comic Con 2005.V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak in an English accent, and had to have her head shaved in a scene in the movie.[11] Maxim magazine named Portman #33 on its annual Hot 100 list, citing her V for Vendetta hairstyle as a huge accomplishment proving "you don't need hair to be hot."
Portman in the Simpsons episode Little Big GirlPortman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance, and mentioned that her character, who joins an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "Being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the film "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion".[12] Portman's upcoming films include Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone (an Israeli film which received a limited U.S. theatrical release in April 2006). She is set to appear in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006; Portman has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie."[11]
In late 2006 Portman filmed The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical drama in which she plays Anne Boleyn; Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson will co-star in the film. She was also named one of the hottest women of film and TV, by Blender Magazine.[13]
Portman had a small role in the 18th season of The Simpsons as the voice of Bart Simpson's love interest, Darcy, from a neighboring town.[14] She also appears in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" off of his 2007 album "Memory Almost Full" directed by Michel Gondry[15] Her recent roles include Garden State, Closer, and V for Vendetta.
[edit] Pop culture references
A number of songs and albums are named after her, by artists such as Intel One, Team Sleep,[16] Sage Francis, and Ozma.[17] The make-up brand Stila has a lip color named after her (a sheer plum titled "Natalie"),[18],[19] fashion designer Zac Posen has referred to her as his "muse"[20] and writer Kia Abdullah names Portman as the woman she would like to be.[21]
Portman is among a very small number of professional actors with a finite Erdős–Bacon number.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]
[edit] Personal life
[edit] Beliefs
Portman appeared at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia[29]Portman has advocated for environmental causes from a young age, becoming a member of the environmental song and dance troupe at age twelve. She is a self-proclaimed "animal lover," and has been a vegetarian since she was eight years old.
Portman has spent some of her free time involved in causes such as the Democrats' 2004 U.S. presidential campaign and ending poverty. In 2004 and 2005 she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in poor countries.[30] In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria she discussed microfinance.[31] Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes", but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff".[32] In the "Voices" segment of the April 29th, 2007 episode of the ABC Sunday Morning Program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and their children in third world countries. [33]
Portman commented in an interview that "I'm much more like the product of a doctor than I am a Jew." On the concept of the afterlife, she comments "I don't believe in that. I believe this is it, and I believe it's the best way to live."[5]
[edit] Controversy
Portman, who had recently read some of the works by W.E.B. DuBois, was interviewed for the August 2004 issue of Allure magazine where she was quoted as saying, "Oh my God! I'm not black, but I know what it feels like!" She then wrote a letter to their editor, in which she wrote: "The 'it' I was referring to when I said, 'I know what it feels like,' was not intended to signify that I know 'how black people feel,' but rather that I know what DuBois’ concept of double-consciousness feels like, in variation. Had my quote included what I actually said preceding that statement, perhaps my meaning would have been clearer."[34]
Portman also made headlines when she was moved away by Israeli Police on February 23, 2005 from Jerusalem's Western Wall after protests by religious Jews who were praying at the holy site. She and Israeli actor Aki Avni were filming a kissing scene near the Wailing Wall for the movie Free Zone. This was deemed to be "immodest" and men who were praying heckled the pair until police stepped in and suggested they return later. The site is under the authority of Orthodox Judaism, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who is responsible for the site, said the actors' behavior violated the code of conduct.
It was reported that on July 8, 2005, Portman was pulled over by the NYPD while driving in a transit tunnel underneath New York City for looking unusual and having an expired registration. She had a shaven head from playing her role in V for Vendetta, and had just arrived back in the United States from Israel and film shooting in Berlin. The policeman told her not to drive in the tunnel, but to take the bridge instead. "I've never had that happen to me before," Portman said. "It's supposedly random... I didn't understand that logic. If you're a suspect, don't take the tunnel, take the bridge?"[35]
[edit] Education
Portman has said that she was "used to A's" but admits to reading about institutional grade inflation in the Ivy Leagues in the New York Times. She reported on a talk show, "I'd rather be smart than be a movie star" and that her goal was to graduate from college even if it ruined her acting career. Despite her high profile, Portman went to a Jewish day school (Solomon Schecter High School Of Glen Cove), and then attended the public Syosset High School in Syosset, New York, graduating in June of 1999. Portman reportedly had to miss the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I so she could study for her high school final exams.[36]
After high school, Portman enrolled at Harvard University where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology on June 5, 2003. In 2005, Portman pursued graduate studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Portman is credited as a research assistant to Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel. She was a research assistant to Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn's psychology lab as well, and made a cameo appearance as a guest lecturer for the Terrorism and Counterterrorism course at Columbia University in early March of 2006, discussing themes from her film V for Vendetta.[37]
In addition to Hebrew[38] and English, Portman has studied or can speak French,[39] Japanese,[39] and German.[40] She has recently been learning to speak Arabic.[41]
As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers which were published in professional scientific journals. Her 1998 high school paper on the "Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen" was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search.[42] In 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called "Frontal Lobe Activation During Object Permanence" during her psychology studies at Harvard.[43]
Her years at Harvard resulted in the phenomenon of The Natalies, in which every underclasswoman with that first name received numerous e-mails and phone messages from fans.[citation needed]
[edit] Relationships
Portman has dated a couple of her college classmates, and has had romantic links with actors including Jake Gyllenhaal. In the May 2002 issue of Vogue Portman called actor/musician Lukas Haas and musician Moby her close friends. She was linked to Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, but he claims they are friends.Recently, she is reportedly dating Nat Rothschild, of the famous multi-billionaire banking family.
When asked in a June 2002 Rolling Stone interview whether she "ever wondered, growing up, whether [she is] gay," she said: "Sure. I've never dated a woman or anything like that. But ... I think it's much more the person that you fall in love with — and why would you close yourself off to fifty percent of the people? ... I think my personality is more compatible with men than women."
Early life
Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel. Her father, Avner Hershlag, is an Israeli medical doctor specializing in the research and treatment of human fertility and reproduction (reproductive endocrinology).[2][3] Her mother, Shelley Stevens, is a Jewish American homemaker who now works as her agent (she is an artist[4] by hobby and not profession). Portman's father's family members are descendants of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Romania, while her mother's family members were Jewish immigrants from Austria and Russia; her paternal grandfather's parents died in Auschwitz and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for the British during World War II.[5]
Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where Portman's mother was selling tickets. Portman's father returned to Israel, but the two corresponded and were married when Portman's mother visited Israel a few years later. When Portman was three years old, her family moved from Israel to her mother's native United States, where her father pursued his medical training. The family lived in Washington, D.C. in 1984 (she attended the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School), and then Connecticut in 1988, before finally settling down in Syosset, New York in 1990.
Portman has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home."[5] Portman is an only child and very close to her parents, who are often seen with her at her film premieres; when Portman was young, her mother always accompanied her to filming locations.[citation needed]
[edit] Early career
Portman started taking dancing lessons at the age of four, performed in local troupes, and dreamed of dancing on Broadway. At the age of 12 Portman was discovered in a pizza parlor by an agent for Revlon, who offered her an opportunity to model. She asked to be introduced to acting talent scouts instead of modeling agents, however. Referring to her discovery in an interview with Blender Magazine, Portman says, "I was definitely different from the other kids. I was more ambitious, I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid." [6]. She then took "Portman", her grandmother's maiden name, as her professional stage surname.[citation needed]
As a child, Portman spent her school holidays attending theater camps. In 1993, Portman was cast in her first professional role, as an understudy for the off-Broadway musical Ruthless!.[citation needed] The following year, she auditioned for Luc Besson's film Léon (aka The Professional). She was initially turned down, but through further auditioning won the part. Soon after getting the part, she took Portman as her stage name in the interest of privacy (in the Director's Cut of the film found on DVD she is credited as Natalie Hershlag). In the film, Portman plays an orphaned girl who befriends a much older assassin. Léon opened on November 18, 1994, and marked her feature film debut at age 12. That same year she appeared in the short film Developing, which aired on television. Starting at age 13, Portman spent her school holidays attending upscale theater camps Stagedoor Manor and Usdan Camp, where she fell in love with acting, playing roles in camp productions such as the title character in Anne of Green Gables, Dream Laurey in Oklahoma!, and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
[edit] 1995–1999
During the mid-1990s, Portman had roles in the films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls. She was also offered a role in the film Anywhere But Here, but turned the part down after learning it would involve a sex scene. Director Wayne Wang and actress Susan Sarandon demanded a rewrite of the script. Portman was shown a new draft, and she joined the project. In 1997, Portman played the role of Anne Frank in the Broadway play of The Diary of Anne Frank. In early 1999, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace opened and became the highest grossing film of the year and the second highest grossing film out of the Star Wars series. Its massive audience and mainstream appeal made Portman an instant star. Portman then signed on to play a persevering teenaged mother in Where the Heart Is. Anywhere But Here opened in late 1999; she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ann August. In the late 1990s, she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
[edit] 2000–2005
She placed a priority on her education, and pursued tertiary studies at Harvard University as a psychology major, despite the chance it might conflict with her acting career. After filming Where the Heart Is, Portman moved into the dorms of Harvard to pursue her bachelor's degree in psychology. She said in a 1999 interview that, with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she would not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying. She graduated in 2003.
In July 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols, playing the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The play opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. That same year she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the comedy Zoolander. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was filmed in Sydney during this time, including additional production in London.
In 2002, Attack of the Clones opened around the world. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.
In 2004, Portman appeared in the independent movies Garden State and Closer. Garden State was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Her role of Alice in Closer saw Portman win a Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.
In 2005, she filmed Free Zone and the final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, released worldwide on May 19. The film was the highest grossing film of the year, and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Shortly before the film's opening, Portman shaved her head for her role in the film adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel, V for Vendetta, released in March 2006. Her shaved head was first seen publicly at the Revenge of the Sith premieres. She kept her hair short for most of 2005, had a faux hawk, and briefly sported a full mohawk in late August, saying that it was "kind of wonderful to throw vanity away for a bit".[7] During the latter part of 2005, Portman filmed Goya's Ghosts. Legendary director Milos Forman hadn't seen any of her work, but thought she looked like a Goya painting so he requested a meeting. During the filming of Goya's Ghosts, she partied in Madrid with co-star Javier Bardem, but was largely unrecognized due to her mohawk. She also attended soccer games with co-star Stellan Skarsgård.[citation needed]
[edit] 2006–present
Portman appeared on Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2006,[8] hosting the show with musical guest Fall Out Boy and special guest star Dennis Haysbert. In a now-famous SNL Digital Short,[9] she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flava Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on pot.[10] The skit is available as an easter egg on the second disc of the 2 disc special edition DVD release of V for Vendetta. In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession).
Portman promoting V for Vendetta at Comic Con 2005.V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak in an English accent, and had to have her head shaved in a scene in the movie.[11] Maxim magazine named Portman #33 on its annual Hot 100 list, citing her V for Vendetta hairstyle as a huge accomplishment proving "you don't need hair to be hot."
Portman in the Simpsons episode Little Big GirlPortman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance, and mentioned that her character, who joins an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "Being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the film "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion".[12] Portman's upcoming films include Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone (an Israeli film which received a limited U.S. theatrical release in April 2006). She is set to appear in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006; Portman has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie."[11]
In late 2006 Portman filmed The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical drama in which she plays Anne Boleyn; Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson will co-star in the film. She was also named one of the hottest women of film and TV, by Blender Magazine.[13]
Portman had a small role in the 18th season of The Simpsons as the voice of Bart Simpson's love interest, Darcy, from a neighboring town.[14] She also appears in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" off of his 2007 album "Memory Almost Full" directed by Michel Gondry[15] Her recent roles include Garden State, Closer, and V for Vendetta.
[edit] Pop culture references
A number of songs and albums are named after her, by artists such as Intel One, Team Sleep,[16] Sage Francis, and Ozma.[17] The make-up brand Stila has a lip color named after her (a sheer plum titled "Natalie"),[18],[19] fashion designer Zac Posen has referred to her as his "muse"[20] and writer Kia Abdullah names Portman as the woman she would like to be.[21]
Portman is among a very small number of professional actors with a finite Erdős–Bacon number.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]
[edit] Personal life
[edit] Beliefs
Portman appeared at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia[29]Portman has advocated for environmental causes from a young age, becoming a member of the environmental song and dance troupe at age twelve. She is a self-proclaimed "animal lover," and has been a vegetarian since she was eight years old.
Portman has spent some of her free time involved in causes such as the Democrats' 2004 U.S. presidential campaign and ending poverty. In 2004 and 2005 she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in poor countries.[30] In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria she discussed microfinance.[31] Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes", but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff".[32] In the "Voices" segment of the April 29th, 2007 episode of the ABC Sunday Morning Program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and their children in third world countries. [33]
Portman commented in an interview that "I'm much more like the product of a doctor than I am a Jew." On the concept of the afterlife, she comments "I don't believe in that. I believe this is it, and I believe it's the best way to live."[5]
[edit] Controversy
Portman, who had recently read some of the works by W.E.B. DuBois, was interviewed for the August 2004 issue of Allure magazine where she was quoted as saying, "Oh my God! I'm not black, but I know what it feels like!" She then wrote a letter to their editor, in which she wrote: "The 'it' I was referring to when I said, 'I know what it feels like,' was not intended to signify that I know 'how black people feel,' but rather that I know what DuBois’ concept of double-consciousness feels like, in variation. Had my quote included what I actually said preceding that statement, perhaps my meaning would have been clearer."[34]
Portman also made headlines when she was moved away by Israeli Police on February 23, 2005 from Jerusalem's Western Wall after protests by religious Jews who were praying at the holy site. She and Israeli actor Aki Avni were filming a kissing scene near the Wailing Wall for the movie Free Zone. This was deemed to be "immodest" and men who were praying heckled the pair until police stepped in and suggested they return later. The site is under the authority of Orthodox Judaism, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who is responsible for the site, said the actors' behavior violated the code of conduct.
It was reported that on July 8, 2005, Portman was pulled over by the NYPD while driving in a transit tunnel underneath New York City for looking unusual and having an expired registration. She had a shaven head from playing her role in V for Vendetta, and had just arrived back in the United States from Israel and film shooting in Berlin. The policeman told her not to drive in the tunnel, but to take the bridge instead. "I've never had that happen to me before," Portman said. "It's supposedly random... I didn't understand that logic. If you're a suspect, don't take the tunnel, take the bridge?"[35]
[edit] Education
Portman has said that she was "used to A's" but admits to reading about institutional grade inflation in the Ivy Leagues in the New York Times. She reported on a talk show, "I'd rather be smart than be a movie star" and that her goal was to graduate from college even if it ruined her acting career. Despite her high profile, Portman went to a Jewish day school (Solomon Schecter High School Of Glen Cove), and then attended the public Syosset High School in Syosset, New York, graduating in June of 1999. Portman reportedly had to miss the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I so she could study for her high school final exams.[36]
After high school, Portman enrolled at Harvard University where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology on June 5, 2003. In 2005, Portman pursued graduate studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Portman is credited as a research assistant to Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel. She was a research assistant to Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn's psychology lab as well, and made a cameo appearance as a guest lecturer for the Terrorism and Counterterrorism course at Columbia University in early March of 2006, discussing themes from her film V for Vendetta.[37]
In addition to Hebrew[38] and English, Portman has studied or can speak French,[39] Japanese,[39] and German.[40] She has recently been learning to speak Arabic.[41]
As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers which were published in professional scientific journals. Her 1998 high school paper on the "Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen" was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search.[42] In 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called "Frontal Lobe Activation During Object Permanence" during her psychology studies at Harvard.[43]
Her years at Harvard resulted in the phenomenon of The Natalies, in which every underclasswoman with that first name received numerous e-mails and phone messages from fans.[citation needed]
[edit] Relationships
Portman has dated a couple of her college classmates, and has had romantic links with actors including Jake Gyllenhaal. In the May 2002 issue of Vogue Portman called actor/musician Lukas Haas and musician Moby her close friends. She was linked to Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, but he claims they are friends.Recently, she is reportedly dating Nat Rothschild, of the famous multi-billionaire banking family.
When asked in a June 2002 Rolling Stone interview whether she "ever wondered, growing up, whether [she is] gay," she said: "Sure. I've never dated a woman or anything like that. But ... I think it's much more the person that you fall in love with — and why would you close yourself off to fifty percent of the people? ... I think my personality is more compatible with men than women."
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba (born April 28, 1981) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in Dark Angel, Sin City, Fantastic Four, Into the Blue and Idle Hands.
Early life
Alba was born in Pomona, California, to Mark Alba, who is Mexican American (though both of Jessica Alba's paternal grandparents were born in California),[1] and Catherine Jensen, who has French and Danish ancestry; the two married while in their teenage years.[2][3][4] Her maternal grandfather was a Marine NCO for thirty years, serving in the Pacific during WWII, and later as Asst. Drum Major for the United States Marine Band. Alba was raised in an Air Force family, along with her brother, Joshua, an actor who appeared with her in the season one finale of Dark Angel, and her grandparents until she was 17 years old. Her father's Air Force career took the family to Biloxi, Mississippi and Del Rio, Texas, before they settled back in California.
She has acknowledged suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder during childhood.[5]
[edit] Career
Her first appearance on film was a small role in the 1994 feature Camp Nowhere as Gail. She was originally hired for two weeks but her role turned into a two-month job when the actress in one of the prominent roles dropped out.
Alba appeared in two national TV commercials for Nintendo and J.C. Penney as a child; she was later featured in several independent films. She branched out into TV in 1994 with a recurring role as Jessica in three episodes of the Nickelodeon comedy series The Secret World of Alex Mack. She then performed the role of Maya in the first two seasons of the TV series Flipper. Under the tutelage of her lifeguard mother, Alba learned to swim before she could walk, and she was a PADI-certified scuba diver, skills which were put to use on the show, which was filmed in Australia.
In 1998, she appeared as Melissa Hauer in a first-season episode of the Steven Bochco crime-drama Brooklyn South, as Leanne in two episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and as Layla in an episode of The Love Boat: The Next Wave. In 1999, she appeared in the Randy Quaid comedy feature P.U.N.K.S.. After graduating from high school, Alba studied acting with William H. Macy and his wife, Felicity Huffman, at the Atlantic Theater Company, which was developed by Macy and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and film director, David Mamet.
Alba rose to greater prominence in Hollywood in 1999 after appearing as a member of a snobby high school clique in the Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Never Been Kissed, and as the female lead in the 1999 comedy-horror film Idle Hands, opposite Devon Sawa. Her big break came when writer/director James Cameron picked Alba from a pool of 1,200 candidates for the role of the genetically-engineered super-soldier, Max Guevara, on the FOX sci-fi TV series Dark Angel. Co-created by Cameron, the series starred Alba, and ran for two seasons before being canceled in 2002. Since then her most notable roles have been as an aspiring dancer-choreographer in Honey, exotic dancer Nancy Callahan in Sin City and as the classic Marvel Comics character Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman in the Fantastic Four. Jessica went on to host the 2006 MTV Movie Awards and performed sketches spoofing the movies King Kong, Mission Impossible 3, and The Da Vinci Code.
Alba on the controversial cover of the March 2006 issue of Playboy magazine.On the cover of the March 2006 issue, Playboy magazine named Alba among its 25 Sexiest Celebrities, and the Sex Star of the Year. Alba was involved in litigation against Playboy for its use of her image (from a promotional shot for Into the Blue) without her consent, which she contends gave the appearance that she was featured in the issue in a "nude pictorial". However, she later dropped the lawsuit after receiving a personal apology from Playboy owner Hugh Hefner who agreed to make donations to two charities that Alba has supported.
In 2006, readers of Askmen.com voted Alba No. 1 on 99 Most Desirable Women,[6] while in 2007, Maxim Magazine placed Alba on the number 2 spot of their Top 100,[7] Both GQ and In Style magazines had Alba on their June covers,[8][9] and in May, after eight million votes, FHM named Alba the winner as 2007’s Sexiest Woman in the World.[10]
Alba fears being typecast as a sex kitten based on the bulk of parts offered to her.[11] "Somehow, I don't think this is happening to Natalie Portman," laments Alba. In the interview, Alba says she wants to be taken seriously as an actress but believes she needs to do movies that she would otherwise not be interested in to build her career, stating that eventually she hopes to be more selective in her film projects.
[edit] Personal life
Alba has revealed that she envisions a much older man as her ideal partner, making references to Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, and Michael Caine. "I have this thing for older men. They've been around and know so much."[12]
Was involved and engaged to Michael Weatherly star of CBS series NCIS but it was called off.
Regarding children, Alba said, "I'm really girly when it comes to kids. I've been surrounded by kids my whole life because I'm the oldest of 15 cousins — I've been changing diapers since I was six. I want to have a couple, for sure".[13]
She has a tattoo of a daisy with a ladybug on the back of her neck, the Sanskrit symbol for the lotus flower, padma, on her wrist,[14] and a lower back tattoo of a bow.
[edit] Religion
Alba was raised Catholic and still considers herself "spiritual".[2] In her adolescence, she became a born-again Christian,[15] but left the church -
“ "'when older men would hit on me, and my youth pastor said it was because I was wearing provocative clothing, when I wasn't. It just made me feel like if I was in any way desirable to the opposite sex that it was my fault, and it made me ashamed of my body and being a woman.' She also [...] disagrees with the church's condemnations of premarital sex and homosexuality, and was bothered by the lack of strong female role models in the Bible. '[…] it certainly wasn't how I was going to live my life.'"[3] ”
As the daughter of conservative parents, Alba, whose grandparents did not allow her to wear a bathing suit around the house, maintains a no-nudity clause in her contract, though she has claimed she had been open to the possibility of appearing nude in Sin City. She remarked of a GQ shoot in which she was scantily clad: "They didn't want me to wear the granny panties, but I said, 'If I'm gonna be topless I need to wear granny panties".[16]
Alba was given the option to appear naked by the film's directors, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez but declined the offer saying, "I don't do nudity. I just don't. Maybe that makes me a bad actress. Maybe I won't get hired in some things. But I have too much anxiety".[3]
Early life
Alba was born in Pomona, California, to Mark Alba, who is Mexican American (though both of Jessica Alba's paternal grandparents were born in California),[1] and Catherine Jensen, who has French and Danish ancestry; the two married while in their teenage years.[2][3][4] Her maternal grandfather was a Marine NCO for thirty years, serving in the Pacific during WWII, and later as Asst. Drum Major for the United States Marine Band. Alba was raised in an Air Force family, along with her brother, Joshua, an actor who appeared with her in the season one finale of Dark Angel, and her grandparents until she was 17 years old. Her father's Air Force career took the family to Biloxi, Mississippi and Del Rio, Texas, before they settled back in California.
She has acknowledged suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder during childhood.[5]
[edit] Career
Her first appearance on film was a small role in the 1994 feature Camp Nowhere as Gail. She was originally hired for two weeks but her role turned into a two-month job when the actress in one of the prominent roles dropped out.
Alba appeared in two national TV commercials for Nintendo and J.C. Penney as a child; she was later featured in several independent films. She branched out into TV in 1994 with a recurring role as Jessica in three episodes of the Nickelodeon comedy series The Secret World of Alex Mack. She then performed the role of Maya in the first two seasons of the TV series Flipper. Under the tutelage of her lifeguard mother, Alba learned to swim before she could walk, and she was a PADI-certified scuba diver, skills which were put to use on the show, which was filmed in Australia.
In 1998, she appeared as Melissa Hauer in a first-season episode of the Steven Bochco crime-drama Brooklyn South, as Leanne in two episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and as Layla in an episode of The Love Boat: The Next Wave. In 1999, she appeared in the Randy Quaid comedy feature P.U.N.K.S.. After graduating from high school, Alba studied acting with William H. Macy and his wife, Felicity Huffman, at the Atlantic Theater Company, which was developed by Macy and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and film director, David Mamet.
Alba rose to greater prominence in Hollywood in 1999 after appearing as a member of a snobby high school clique in the Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Never Been Kissed, and as the female lead in the 1999 comedy-horror film Idle Hands, opposite Devon Sawa. Her big break came when writer/director James Cameron picked Alba from a pool of 1,200 candidates for the role of the genetically-engineered super-soldier, Max Guevara, on the FOX sci-fi TV series Dark Angel. Co-created by Cameron, the series starred Alba, and ran for two seasons before being canceled in 2002. Since then her most notable roles have been as an aspiring dancer-choreographer in Honey, exotic dancer Nancy Callahan in Sin City and as the classic Marvel Comics character Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman in the Fantastic Four. Jessica went on to host the 2006 MTV Movie Awards and performed sketches spoofing the movies King Kong, Mission Impossible 3, and The Da Vinci Code.
Alba on the controversial cover of the March 2006 issue of Playboy magazine.On the cover of the March 2006 issue, Playboy magazine named Alba among its 25 Sexiest Celebrities, and the Sex Star of the Year. Alba was involved in litigation against Playboy for its use of her image (from a promotional shot for Into the Blue) without her consent, which she contends gave the appearance that she was featured in the issue in a "nude pictorial". However, she later dropped the lawsuit after receiving a personal apology from Playboy owner Hugh Hefner who agreed to make donations to two charities that Alba has supported.
In 2006, readers of Askmen.com voted Alba No. 1 on 99 Most Desirable Women,[6] while in 2007, Maxim Magazine placed Alba on the number 2 spot of their Top 100,[7] Both GQ and In Style magazines had Alba on their June covers,[8][9] and in May, after eight million votes, FHM named Alba the winner as 2007’s Sexiest Woman in the World.[10]
Alba fears being typecast as a sex kitten based on the bulk of parts offered to her.[11] "Somehow, I don't think this is happening to Natalie Portman," laments Alba. In the interview, Alba says she wants to be taken seriously as an actress but believes she needs to do movies that she would otherwise not be interested in to build her career, stating that eventually she hopes to be more selective in her film projects.
[edit] Personal life
Alba has revealed that she envisions a much older man as her ideal partner, making references to Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, and Michael Caine. "I have this thing for older men. They've been around and know so much."[12]
Was involved and engaged to Michael Weatherly star of CBS series NCIS but it was called off.
Regarding children, Alba said, "I'm really girly when it comes to kids. I've been surrounded by kids my whole life because I'm the oldest of 15 cousins — I've been changing diapers since I was six. I want to have a couple, for sure".[13]
She has a tattoo of a daisy with a ladybug on the back of her neck, the Sanskrit symbol for the lotus flower, padma, on her wrist,[14] and a lower back tattoo of a bow.
[edit] Religion
Alba was raised Catholic and still considers herself "spiritual".[2] In her adolescence, she became a born-again Christian,[15] but left the church -
“ "'when older men would hit on me, and my youth pastor said it was because I was wearing provocative clothing, when I wasn't. It just made me feel like if I was in any way desirable to the opposite sex that it was my fault, and it made me ashamed of my body and being a woman.' She also [...] disagrees with the church's condemnations of premarital sex and homosexuality, and was bothered by the lack of strong female role models in the Bible. '[…] it certainly wasn't how I was going to live my life.'"[3] ”
As the daughter of conservative parents, Alba, whose grandparents did not allow her to wear a bathing suit around the house, maintains a no-nudity clause in her contract, though she has claimed she had been open to the possibility of appearing nude in Sin City. She remarked of a GQ shoot in which she was scantily clad: "They didn't want me to wear the granny panties, but I said, 'If I'm gonna be topless I need to wear granny panties".[16]
Alba was given the option to appear naked by the film's directors, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez but declined the offer saying, "I don't do nudity. I just don't. Maybe that makes me a bad actress. Maybe I won't get hired in some things. But I have too much anxiety".[3]
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