Natalie Portman is one of the leading actors of her generation. She is probably most famous for portraying Queen Amidala on George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), but it was her performance at the age of 12 as Mathilda in Luc Besson's 1994 film, Léon (also known as The Professional), that open doors for her. She has worked with such directors as Woody Allen, Michael Mann, and Tim Burton. Along the way, she has given many great performances, such as her portrayal of Marty in Beautiful Girls (1996), which many feel was worthy of an Oscar nomination. Her most recent movie, Anywhere But Here (1999), costarring Susan Surandon, netted her a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress.

Natalie Portman was born on June 9, 1981 in Jerusalem, Israel, where she also lived for a short while. She moved to Maryland at age 3, to Connecticut at the age of 7, and finally her current residence of Long Island, New York at the age of 9. Her rise to fame started by being discovered at a pizza parlor when she was 11 by a modeling agent from Revlon. The agent wanted Natalie to model, but Natalie had other aspirations. She was introduced to a few acting agents, and the rest is history. Portman is actually her grandmother's maiden name, which Natalie uses as her stage name. Despite her fame, Natalie is an intensely private person.

Natalie is also a straight-A student who attends an Ivy League Institution. At the age of 8, she attended a medical conference with her father, a fertility specialist, where she witnessed a hand laser surgery on a chicken, and decided to become a vegetarian. She lives in a community that respects and protects her privacy, with her mother, father, and her pet dog, Noodles. Natalie is true to her personal beliefs. She turned down the title role in Lolita, because she is against the exploitation of children, and the role of Juliet in the remake of Romeo and Juliet because of the age difference between her and Leonardo DiCaprio. Natalie Portman has been compared by some to the great Audrey Hepburn, a strong indication of what is to come.