WOMEN WE LOVE: Natalie Portman

There’s no debate that Marvel absolutely took over this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Since the release of Avengers: Endgame in April, Disney has remained tight-lipped about Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not anymore. Instead of giving fans a peek behind their Phase 4 veil at Comic-Con, Marvel straight-up dropped the curtain, releasing info about their numerous upcoming projects over the next two years. Arguably the biggest surprise involved how one returning character will tilt the axis of power: Natalie Portman!

As we reported in our Marvel SDCC wrap-up Natalie Portman is making a return to the MCU in a big way, taking the reigns from Chris Hemsworth to assume her title as the next God of Thunder in Marvel's upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder.

The 38-year-old actor was born Neta-Lee Hershlag on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem. What many people don’t know is that Portman actually has dual Israeli and American citizenship—pretty cool if you ask me! The reason we LOVE Natalie so much is that she is a strong, independent, and focused woman, and she’s always been that way too. Even as a child, she knew what she wanted to do with her life: act! At just 10 years old, a Revlon agent asked her to become a child model for them, but she decided to turn down the offer to focus on acting. I have to say, I don’t know many little girls (or their moms) that would turn down an opportunity like that! In a magazine interview, Portman said that she was "different from the other kids. I was more ambitious. I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid.” While her classmates went vacationing during the holidays, little Natalie was off attending theater camps.

Portman debuted her acting career playing the part of Mathilda, the young protégée of a hitman, in Léon: The Professional (1994). She went on to gain international recognition for starring as as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), all while completing high school! On top of all that, she also appeared in the comedy-drama Anywhere But Here in the same year.

Despite an acting career that had taken off, Portman continued to make her education a priority, even after graduating high school. In 1999, she relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she spent the next four years earning her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Harvard University, all while continuing to act. We love love LOVE Portman for this! She’s an inspiration to college students everywhere. If she can earn a degree from Harvard in just four years while balancing her acting career, so can you! She even co-authored two research papers that were published in scientific journals. During her time at Harvard, she starred in The Public Theater’s 2001 revival of Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull. The actor-student extraordinaire also returned for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones in 2002. A year after she graduated in 2004, Portman received her first of 3 Academy Award nominations (so far) for her role as a mysterious stripper in the steamy drama Closer.

Portman concluded the Star Wars prequel trilogy in 2005 with Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Following the end of her Star Wars tenure, she played many roles: Even Hammond inV for Vendetta (2006), Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and a troubled ballerina in the psychological horror film Black Swan (2010). She later received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Black Swan. In 2011, she starred in the romantic comedy No String Attached.

It was 2011 when we first saw Portman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She was featured as Jane Foster in the 2011 film Thor, and she also appeared in the 2013 film Thor: The Dark World. Following her stint with the MCU, she played the iconic Jacqueline Kennedy in the 2016 biopic Jackie, for which she received her third Academy Award nomination.

At the end of the day, she’s more than just an actor -- she’s a director, producer, and screenwriter. She's also secretly a dope rapper, which we discovered not once but twice during her hosting gigs on "Saturday Night Live", in a pair of sketches that have now become iconic.

But while her career in the entertainment industry is obviously a big part of her life, she’s just a regular, passionate gal. Another reason we love her— she’s well-rounded! She is married to French danseur and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she has two children, son Aleph (born in 2011) and daughter Amalia (born in 2017). Crossing our fingers that we get to see these cuties on the big screen someday! Coming from Israel, she is a religious woman and follows the Jewish faith. She also is very vocal about the politics of America and Israel, and is an advocate for animal rights and environmental causes.

We love you, Natalie Portman, and we can’t wait to see you as Lady Thor!