Portman, Natalie (1981- )

Israeli-born US actor. Before rising to international celebrity for her role as Queen Amidala in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Portman had already established herself as one of the most talented and versatile US film actors of her generation.

Other films include Mars Attacks (1996), Everyone Says I Love You (1996), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Anywhere but Here (1999), Where the Heart Is (2000), Cold Mountain (2003), Garden State (2004), True (2004), and Closer (2004). She starred on Broadway in The Diary of Anne Frank (1997-98).

She was born in Jerusalem and moved to the USA as a child. After a few moves her family settled in Long Island, New York. She began modelling before reaching adolescence. In 1994 she made an impressive film debut as the self-assured child companion to Jean Reno's professional assassin in Léon (US title The Professional). Her range as a character actor was further illustrated in the roles of Al Pacino's suicidal step-daughter in the thriller Heat (1995) and as a precocious teen who seduces older man Timothy Hutton in Beautiful Girls (1996).