Natalie Portman is one of the most beloved actresses in the world. She was born on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, being the only child of a Jewish family. Her father, the Israeli doctor Avner Hershalg, is a renown gynaecologist, specialized in fertility treatments. He met his wife, Natalie Portman’s mother, Shelley Stevens, while he was studying at the Ohio University. Shelley Stevens was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a family that got to United States from Austria and Russia. She is now the manager of her daughter, Natalie Portman. Her father’s family is from Poland and Romania. His grandparents died during World War II, in Auschwitz. Natalie Portman’s parents wedded in Israel, and only returned to the United States when she was 3 years old.

At first, they lived in Maryland, while her father was advancing his studies at the George Washington University. Then, they moved to New Haven, Connecticut. Natalie Portman attended a Jewish school and took, among others, dancing lessons. You may wonder where does Portman, in Natalie Portman, come from. Well, ever since she was 12 years old, Natalie adopted this last name, which represents the name that her motherly grandmother had before getting married. Soon enough, her career took of, and everyone was finding out who is Natalie Portman.

Her first role came in 1994, in the French movie Léon. The part that made her famous, however, is the one she played in the Star Wars trilogy. Prior to that, Natalie Portman also starred in Beautiful Girls and Anywhere but Here. While she was shooting for Star Wars, Natalie Portman was also studying psychology, at Harvard. In 2005, the movie Closer got Natalie Portman her first Golden Globe Award nomination. Surprisingly or not, she actually won. Then, Natalie Portman had to shave her head for the part in V for Vendetta, which she did, leaving the whole world speachless.

Then, Goya’s Ghosts and The Other Boleyn Girl followed. In 2008, Natalie Portman became the youngest member of the Cannes Film Festival jury. 2011 was the year when Natalie Portman won the Golden Globe for Best Actress, for the much acclaimed movie Black Swan. In fact, Natalie Portman met her now fiancée and father of her child on the set of Black Swan, the choreographer Benjamin Millepied.