Natalie Portman in an interview in Hebrew
By Tali Shamir and Rinen Mosenzon
Translation
Just a moment before attending the Academy Awards ceremony in which she will present or even win a Golden statue, mega star Natalie Portman told Nana, in an exclusive interview, about her stay in Israel and more.
Before the interview we were warned that Natalie would prefer to be interviewed in English, and that she was slef-conscoius about her Hebrew. We, however, insisted on hearing her speak our common mother tongue, maybe so we can be entertained, maybe because we wanted to feel closer to her, or maybe it was due our poor English. We expected at least a “hello Israel”, but Natalie caught us off guard, and without much trouble, she agreed to do a half an hour interview in minimalistic, yet articulate Hebrew with a slight accent.
Portman has been staying in Jerusalem for the past six months where she studied Middle East, and she later shot a movie by Amos Gitai. On Sunday, she will be attending the Oscars where she will be presenting an award or even winning one for the first time in her career. During her saty here, the star tried to maintain an ordinary student life style away from the media. The only thing the public got from her was couple of mentionings in gossip columns, and a few paparazi’s pictures in which she covered her face. Just a moment before attending the greatest awards ceremony in the film industry, she agreed to be interviewed by Nana. Why now, why us? – We have no idea, but apparently this just adds to her sense of mystery, complexity and charm.
We met the star of “Star Wars”, “Leon”, “Close” etc. in her suite in Sheraton hotel in Tel-Aviv, dressed in jeans, old-stars and a simple black shirt. She looked simple and glamorous at the same time. “I’m very excited about the Oscars, and I’m bringing my parents”, she said.
It’s getting pretty hard deciding what should one admire her for most: her Oscar nomination, her Golden Globe win and the way she beat off stars such as Julia Roberts and Jude Lowe; or perhaps her all star courage to conduct an entire interview in Hebrew, and study Middle East for six months at Hebrew university in Jerusalem, while the entire Western world is at her feet, or maybe it’s the fact that she managed to stay sain throughout this mess.
“Good Girl Jerusalem” [=a really good girl]
So tell us, how did you decide to come to Israel for a whole semester?
“I had some spare time, I didn’t find a job that interested me, and I always wanted to come and live here for a while. I wanted to see what it was like, since I left at a young age, and since then I only visited about three times a year”.
“At first I thought of studying in Tel-Aviv, but I’m glad I chose Jerusalem. I love my privacy, and almost no one interrupts me there. But, whenever I was in Tel-Aviv, I had to keep hiding: every time I went to a restaurant, and had problems with the photographers. In jerusalem there were paparazis only while we were shooting the film. But I like tel-Aviv very much; it’s just that here I have to be more careful”.
And how is it like compared to the US?
“It’s almost the same. I live in a suburb in NY, and so photographers don’t bother to stay there only for one person. They are usually at places where there are many people. This is exactly why most photographers here are in Tel-Aviv”.
Where were you staying in Jerusalem?
“In the Mamila neighbourhood, in an apartment, alone”.
Where?
“Mamila in Jerusalem. It’s near the Old City”.
Ah. And what did you do there at night, for instance?
“I hung out in some friends’ places, went to bars, restaurants, went to the movies”.
Speaking of bars and restaurants, we give Natalie a bottle of arak [liqour] and some kremboim [a snack] as a certificate for her Israeliness, and particularly ours. Natalie pushes away the bottle of arak from the camera.
Portman became a celebrity at the age of 11 due to her role in “Leon”, and ever since, as appropriate for a child-actress, she and everyone around her have been concerned with maintaining her “good Jewish girl” image. Just a few examples: she said no to a modelling career, she passed on her role in “The Horse Whisperer” for the role of Anne Frank on Broadway, and her nude scenes in “Closer” were cut in the editing. Recently, however, there have been rumors about her smoking during recess and ordering jin and tonic at bars (oh!).
It’s important for you to hold on to your good girl image.
“No, no, it’s just that I wouldn’t want…When I was little I saw what some mature actors and actresses were doing and it effected me. I don’t know if I can influence others at all, but if so, I don’t want to encourage them to drink alcohol. I’d rather encourage them to do good things, to be a good person”.
Hello, Amos? – It’s me, Natalie.
We heard you’re really into Hip-Hop.
“Yes, I love: “A Tribe Called Quest”, “Blackalicious”, “Jerassic 5″…I listened to the “Dag Nahash” [an Israeli band] here and I loved it. I even bought their CD: the one with the bamba [a snack]“.
Your BA degree from Harvard is in psychology. What made you decide to come here and study, precisely Middle East?
“Abroad you hear and read about many different things regarding the conflict. I wanted to study it more thoroughly. It’s not that now I have profound knowledge on the subject, it’s just one semester. So, I studied some Arabic, some history of Islam, and Hebrew, of course. It was very interesting, but most of what I learned was from living here, meeting people, talking to them. In Jerusalem you can see how everyone is living together and getting along with one another, and for shooting Gitai’s film we went to Jordan and to some Palestinian territories, and so I met different people from different backgrounds. This sounds silly, but never before did I get the chance to meet Israeli Arabs. And so do most Jews here, I understand. It’s not the case that the Arab actors I met are representative of all Arabs, but nonetheless it was still interesting to meet them”.
How did you get to work on the movie with Gitai?
“I very much wanted to make a movie in Israel, and Amos is the most known Israeli director abroad. I loved his movies, “Kippur”, “Kadosh”, and so I got his phone number, called him and told him I wanted to work with him. We met in a restaurant in Tel-Aviv, and he said: ‘I have a role for you’. It’s important for me to do new things and change my acting style. This shooting process is different from everything I ever knew, the story keep changing, you add stuff. The final result is going to be a surprise for me”.
“I think this is a very important time for the Israeli film industry: only this year have many good Israeli movies been released. I especially liked “Or”, and “Ushpizin”, “Ha’Kala Ha’Surit”, and “Sof Ha’Olam Smola”. I sense this is only the beginning of the growing process of the Israeli film industry, and I very much want to be a part of it.”
And to the million shekels question: do you feel Israeli?
“I was not raised here, and I didn’t join the army. I’m not completely familiar with the Israeli pop culture. I don’t really feel I’m like everyone here, but I definitely feel at home. I’m really in both places: in the US I feel like an Israeli, and here I feel like an American. It’s important for me, as an actress, to feel a little bit like a stranger. It gives me an outer perspective on things.”
And to the million dollar question: what will you be wearing to the Oscars?
“I don’t know.”
What???
“I didn’t have time to look, I’m working up until the last minute, even on Friday. On sunday, when I arrive to L.A, they’ll bring me all sorts of dresses from which I’ll pick one.”
