Background and career
Natalie Hershlag (born June 9, 1981), known professionally as Natalie Portman, is an actress and filmmaker with dual Israeli and American citizenship. She has had a screen career from her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.
Portman was born in Jerusalem and moved to the United States when she was three. She began her acting career at age 13, starring as the protégée of a hitman in Léon: The Professional (1994). While in high school, she made her Broadway debut in The Diary of Anne Frank (1997) and gained international recognition for her role as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). From 1999 to 2003, Portman attended Harvard University, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology. During this time, she appeared in the next two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002 and 2005) and performed in a 2001 revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull at The Public Theater.
Portman's career gained further momentum in 2004 when she won a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Closer. She then played Evey Hammond in V for Vendetta (2005), Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and a troubled ballerina in Black Swan (2010), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In the following years, Portman starred in the romantic comedy No Strings Attached (2011) and portrayed Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie (2016), which earned her a third Academy Award nomination. She played Jane Foster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), which established her as one of the world's highest-paid actresses.
Portman directed the short film Eve (2008) and the biographical drama A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015), in which she also starred. In 2021, she co-founded the production company MountainA, which produced the film May December (2023) and the miniseries Lady in the Lake (2024); Portman also starred in both productions. Portman is an advocate for various causes, including women's rights, environmental issues, and animal welfare, and supports organizations such as the Human Rights Foundation and the Jane Goodall Institute.
How Natalie Portman makes money
In 2021, she co-founded the production company MountainA, which produced the film May December (2023) and the miniseries Lady in the Lake (2024); Portman also starred in both productions. The critical response to the film was mixed, but with earnings of $924 million worldwide it was the second highest-grossing film of all time to that point, and it established Portman as a global star.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (2026-09-07), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
