Graduated from Syosset High School, Syosset, New York. [29 June 1999]
Has been a vegetarian since the age of 8.
Has taken dance lessons since the age of 4.
Says that math was her favorite subject in school "because there's always an answer."
Can speak two languages, Hebrew and English (her native languages), fluently. Also knows some conversational French, German, and Japanese and Spanish.
Was a member of the environmental song and dance troupe The World Patrol Kids under her real name, Natalie Hershlag.
She is an only child.
David Letterman and Harpers and Queen magazines said that she is "the new Audrey Hepburn".
Turned down the title role in Adrian Lyne's Lolita (1997), due to her feelings about young adult actors/actresses being exposed to sex in films.
Moved to the US when she was 3 years old.
Said would never be in a horror movie or any other "Jennifer Love Hewitt type" film.
Has said in interviews that when she gets older, she would like to be a doctor like her father.
Was reportedly caught using a fake ID trying to sneak into Boston club called the Roxy. The performer Moby insisted that she was invited by him and refused to perform unless she was admitted. She was admitted, and security watched her as she stood in the back, watched the show, and didn't drink.
Stated in an on-line interview that the story about sneaking into the Roxy club in Boston to see Moby is not true and that she and her friends went home after they were denied entrance.
Takes pride in the fact that she is a role model for girls and choses roles that are positive so that they will have a positive role model to look up to.
Her father is a fertility specialist.
Became interested in acting after spending three summers at the prestigious (and expensive) Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Camp.
Is very close to her parents and says, "The best part about being friends with your parents is that no matter what you do, they always love you."
Grew up in Syosset, Long Island, New York, where she still resides.
Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.
Natalie was born on her mother's 29th birthday.
Father's name: Avner. Mother's name: Shelley.
One of Teen People Magazine's 25 Hottest Stars under 25 [2002]
Went to Usdan Camp for the arts as a child.
The makeup brand Stila has a lip gloss named after her.
As of March 2007, she has appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) 11 times.
Voted the 15th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.
Received her Harvard degree in June of 2003.
Has a passion for travel. In late 2003 and early 2004 she travelled alone to Morocco and Guatemala.
Favorite actor is Ben Kingsley.
Is trained in ballet, jazz, and tap dancing.
As a young girl, she was an understudy for the lead character in the off-Broadway show, "Ruthless," alongside Britney Spears. They still keep in touch, and recently threw a party together in New York City.
Fashion designer Zac Posen refers to her as his "muse."
Close friends with Jake Gyllenhaal, Mila Kunis and Bryce Dallas Howard.
Shares a birthday with Johnny Depp and Michael J. Fox.
Had to miss the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) so she could study for her high school final exams.
Has a song named after her by the band Ozma.
Bears a striking resemblance to Keira Knightley. Knightley played Sabé, the Queen's decoy, in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). When in makeup, not even the mothers of the actresses could tell them apart.
She hesitantly shot an explicit nude scene for Closer (2004/I), in the scene where Alice (Portman) strips for Larry (Clive Owen). Ultimately, Portman and director Mike Nichols agreed not to use it, as the scene was effective enough without it.
Shaved her head for V for Vendetta (2006).
Learned to speak with a British accent for V for Vendetta (2006).
Still takes ballet classes.
Named #42 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
Named #49 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)
Voted Peta's Sexiest Female Vegetarian in 2002.
A radio station once had a contest to find out where she went to school; Backstreet Boys tickets were the prizes.
Her mother is American (the daughter of one Russian parent, one Austrian) and her father is Israeli (son of a Polish father).
In 1999, magazines reported that Portman started a new trend - wearing logo T-shirts - when they snapped photos of her at her 18th birthday wearing a snug Nesquik shirt. (However, logo T-shirts had already been popular since at least the 1970s) She had borrowed the shirt from her best friend's eight-year-old brother; he was appalled.
In 2005, she spent a few months in Madrid partying with Javier Bardem and friends. She was mostly unrecognizable to fans because of her Mohawk.
Occasionally shelters dogs.
Once during an interview, she offered a metaphor for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the David Hare play "Via Dolorosa." It's about a man who jumps out of a burning building and lands on a passerby, breaking the passerby's leg. The passerby says, "You broke my leg," and the man breaks his other leg to shut him up.
Was surprised and amused to discover that her apartment in the heart of Kings Cross, London, was across the street from a brothel.
Took diving courses in Eilat, Israel. Diving is one of her favorite hobbies.
Her years at Harvard resulted in the phenomenon of The Natalies, in which every underclasswoman with that first name received numerous e-mails and phone messages from fans.
When she arrived at a London airport to do re-shoots for the third Star Wars prequel, a customs official--going by her size--asked Natalie if she was traveling with a guardian.
Is a close friend and well-known customer of Zac Posen, a friend of Jeanine Lobell and her husband Anthony Edwards, as well as Jonathan Safran Foer. Portman has also been friends with Isaac Mizrahi since she was 14, and friends with Mike Nichols and his wife Diane Sawyer since she was 15.
While in northern Iraq in 2004, the 1st Battalion 5th Infantry hung a giant poster of her in their command hanger after discovering that most of the men in the unit were big fans.
Was considered for the role of Jane Austen in Becoming Jane (2007), but the role went to Anne Hathaway.
Her parents met as OSU (Ohio State university) in Columbus, Ohio.
Her father Avner was born on September 12, 1951 and her mother Shelley was born on June 9, 1952.
Has a slight indentation on her head that was visible during the time she her head shaved. The indentation was the result of being delivered by vacuum extraction.
Named #61 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
She currently lives in Long Island, New York, and also shares a home in London, England. She has lived in Long Island, New York since she was a child. [2007]
Listens mostly to R&B, Old School Hip-Hop and 90s Alternative Rock. Some of her favorite groups and artists are A Tribe Called Quest, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, Portishead, Wu Tang Clan, and Nirvana.
Unwinds by singing karaoke at Winnie's, a NYC bar in Chinatown.
While in Morocco, she lived in a tent and traveled by camel. She visits Morocco regularly.
There is a band named after her: Natalie Portman's Shaved Head.
Named #2 on Empire Magazine's 100 Sexiest Movie Stars (2007) and was ranked #2 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actress list (2008).
Sold her 2,088-square-foot house in Sea Cliff, New York for $1.750 million. She had purchased it in 2002 for $1.375 million. [2007]
Sold her two-bedroom loft in Manhattan's West Village for $6.55 million. She purchased the property in 2005 for $5.7 million. [2008]
She paid $3.250 million to purchase a four-bedroom, 4,866-sq.-ft. home in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills area. Previous owners were Dermot Mulroney and Catherine Keener. [2009]
Is best friends with Rashida Jones and a close friend of Robert Pattinson.
Was originally a vegetarian, but later became a vegan in 2009.
Was in consideration for the role of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010) after Emily Blunt dropped out of the project, but Scarlett Johansson was cast instead.
Was in a relationship with Devendra Banhart (March-September 2008).
Was in a relationship with Gael García Bernal (March 2003-May 2004). They rekindled their romance for a short time in early 2007.
Engaged to Black Swan (2010) choreographer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she is expecting their first child [December 28, 2010].
In New York, she led a viewing of A Powerful Noise (2008)a documentary about women fighting adversity. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar held another viewing in Los Angeles [6 March 2009].
