Natalie Portman Gets Closer

Natalie Portman is gorgeous. She is regal as Star Wars' Queen Amadala and was vulnerable as a pregnant teen in Where the Heart Is. The accomplished young actress cut to our hearts in Garden State and as a very young war widow in Cold Mountain. Now, with her bold portrayal of Alice, an ex-stripper in the sexy love quadrangle drama Closer, she comes of age in an impressive, R-rated flash. No one is very nice to anyone in the film, but, according to the actors (Natalie, Jude Law and Clive Owen), off-camera, the group got along like best buds.

We checked in with Natalie recently in L.A.-

TeenHollywood: This film is full of raw, tough relationship moments. Was it still fun for you?

Natalie: It was fun but not always. Some of the [unpleasant] things are hard to do to each other especially because all of us got along well and liked each other a lot. To be really awful to each other was very difficult at times.

TeenHollywood: Was this a conscious effort on your part to break out of any goodie-two-shoes type cast?

Natalie: It was conscious, but I'm just trying to keep it interesting and trying to do different things every time. I hadn't done a role like this before. So it was a good challenge.

TeenHollywood: But do you feel like you are finally a true adult actress with this film?

Natalie: I don't really feel like an adult yet myself. So I don't really think that I can play adults. I think that it's always the proportion of adult to child within you and even when you're eighty five you're still going to have that proportion. It changes with moods and with time. So I don't know, it's stupid. It's an arbitrary distinction between adult and child.

TeenHollywood: You had to do a nude scene. Was that process tough?

Natalie: Well, it goes back to the trust issue. When you trust someone,[in this case, director Mike Nichols], you're willing to do everything and make mistakes and really expose yourself inside out. So we made sort of a pact before that while we would shoot, we would just do everything and then he'd cut it the way that he thought fit, show it to me and see if I agreed. So that's what happened. We both kept our parts of the deal.

TeenHollywood: Do you think these characters are typical? They're pretty nasty to each other.

Natalie: I don't know. I mean, first of all I don't think that four characters necessarily extends to their entire gender. I think that there are variations that are in humanity. These are the epitomes or types that represent the entire sex. Second of all, if that's the conclusion you come to, you can think about it. That's the beauty of a piece that's full of the inspiration of questions, you go home and you think about that. I could talk about that for hours.

TeenHollywood: How do you feel now that Star Wars is over for you?

Natalie: It was a big chunk of my life. It's been like ten years from the time that I signed on to the time that the next film comes out. So as with all phase changes in my life, it's both sad and joyful because you're not going to go back and see the same people and it's exciting to look at what's ahead.

TeenHollywood: Was this last film in the series more intense with Anakin going into Darth Vader mode?

Natalie: As far as from a filming perspective, it was darker. It was really intense. We worked really hard and Hayden [Christensen] and Ewan [McGregor] are both amazing and Ian McDiarmid. We all worked hard and hopefully we'll see a good movie when it comes out.

TeenHollywood: In Closer, you have a big breakdown scene. Wasn't that hard? You put a lot into it.

Natalie: Personally, I mean, your physical self is inescapable whenever you're playing a character. So I mean, that and imagination I guess and everything. It scared me. It's always a sign that I should do something if it scares me.

TeenHollywood: Now that you've finished with school, have you given thought to going into something else for a living?

Natalie: I really love acting, but I don't know. I want to do interesting things, not just through my characters. So there are many things that I'd like to explore and try and see.

TeenHollywood: Are you going to take some time off for yourself?

Natalie: I take time off all the time. I mean, I only work doing one or two movies a year. So it's very, very lucky to have this job because it's wonderful and also affords you a great a deal of time to live and to see things.

TeenHollywood: What do you like to do when you're not working in films?

Natalie: I like to travel and read and meet people and go new places, trying new things.

TeenHollywood: Are you worried now that since you've done a more risque role that you'll end up on the internet as the next hot babe on a celebrity site?

Natalie: Nude celebrities dotcom. [Laughs] I'm not scared. I'm brave, I think. I feel like I've reached a point where I'm not so reliant. I feel like I've gotten to a point in my life where everything that I do is active rather than reactive. I'm not doing things to prove anything; that I'm like or unlike what other people think of me. That makes me comfortable with whatever people walk away with. I can still carry on my own life without being hurt.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.