‘I felt very scared by it’

Natalie Portman looked back on her successful career, after starting her journey in the entertainment industry at a young age. The star talked to Jenna Ortega during her latest conversation on Interview magazine, where the pair shared their experience as “child actors” and reflected on the challenges that come with being exposed to the industry.

The pair shared their admiration and appreciation for each other, with Natalie praising Jenna for “leading” the “next generation.” “You’re so, so talented and such a good human and so kind and so smart,” she told the ‘Wednesday’ star.

“Obviously you’re a child actor. I’m a child actor. We all have this kinship. As soon as someone mentions that they were a young actor, you start to look at them differently,” Jenna told Natalie before asking, “Do you think that having your children helped you find a bit more of a balance?”

Natalie went on to agree on their bond as child actors, as it is a “unique” experience. “I totally agree on that connection as child actors because there’s a lot of things people believe about us that I don’t feel are necessarily true,” the actress stated.

© Stephane Cardinale – Corbis

“And yet it’s a very unusual, unique experience that not a lot of people share. But having kids, that wasn’t really my motivation. I was just excited to have kids, and with a person that I was in love with. But it’s really important to have people in your life who keep you on the ground,” she added.

© Gregg DeGuire

Reflecting on the challenges she faced, Natalie said: “As a kid, I was really sexualized, which I think happens to a lot of young girls who are onscreen,” she continued “I felt very scared by it. Obviously sexuality is a huge part of being a kid, but I wanted it to be inside of me, not directed towards me.”

© Stefania D’Alessandro

Further in the interview, Jenna talked about her experience connecting with previous generations of stars and the way the media and public perception have changed. 

© Stephane Cardinale – Corbis

“There’s something really, really heartwarming, but also simultaneously devastating, anytime I speak to actresses from previous generations, just because their experience is so jarringly different,” she said. “Not everybody has that community that you talk about, or the friends or the parents. So it’s nice to see how much it’s changed because I’ve been very fortunate in my upbringing, in our line of work.”