By Taryn Ryder
Natalie Portman has never fallen for the traps faced by many child stars in Hollywood, but her career path has come with its own set of challenges.
The Oscar-winning actress appeared on Expert armchair with Dax Shepard, and talked about being sexualized at a young age. Portman, now 39, broke out at 12 in Leon: the professional and played in Beautiful girls two years later.
She spoke early on about the effects of being described as a “Lolita figure” in the press and the coping mechanism she used to combat it.
Shepard, who is six years older than the actress, explained on his podcast how much he loved Portman growing up, but had complicated feelings about it.
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“The premise of Beautiful girls is [actor] Timothy Hutton is infected with this pretty girl who is precocious and wiser than her age and there is something fanciful about it, ”recalls Shepard.
“There are some nice things, and there are some complicated and risky things, and now I don’t know this movie is made. There are so many layers in there… there were times I was like “I shouldn’t be so in love with this girl, but Timothy Hutton is.”
This is not a new concept for Portman.
“I was definitely aware that I was being portrayed – mostly in some sort of journalism when the films were released – as this Lolita figure and all that,” she replied.
The actress, who is releasing a children’s book of inclusive fables of the genre, has already spoken about the consequences of being a child actress. In a moving speech at the 2018 Women’s March, she said the first fan mail she received after The professional was a rape fantasy that a man wrote to her.
“Being sexualized as a kid, I think, took away my own sexuality because it scared me,” Portman told Shepard. “It made me feel like the way I can be safe is to say to myself, ‘I’m conservative, and I’m serious, and you should respect me, and I’m smart and don’t look at me like that. way. ‘Whereas, like, this age – you have your own sexuality, and you have your own desire, and you want to explore things, and you want to be open, but you don’t feel safe, necessarily, when there is like older men who are interested and you say to yourself “No, no no no no no.”
Portman said she built “fortresses” around her to “feel safe”.
“I think so many people got this impression of me that I was, like, super serious, prudish and conservative,” she continued. “I realize that I consciously cultivated this because it was a way to make me feel safe. ‘Oh, if someone respects you, they’re not going to objectify you.’ “
“It worked, fortunately,” added the activist. “I mean, I was safe.”
Shepard noted how her career path was almost the opposite of a Disney star trying to get her sexuality back later.
“It’s absolutely true and it’s so weird because it’s like I’m auditioning for all of this too and I never had it when I was a kid. I always had the role of dark, sexy girl, “said Portman with a laugh, saying she would try to audition for a cereal commercial” and they were like, ‘No way’.
Watch: Natalie Portman Talks About Her Children’s Book
