FAMOUSLY known for her acting debut in Leon: The Professional at the age of 11, Natalie Portman told the Smartless podcast recently that Jodie Foster had once reached out to her after hearing Portman’s speech about being sexualised as a young actor.
“I gave a speech at a Women’s March about being sexualised as a young actress, and she reached out to me after that, and we talked and it was amazing,” Portman said. “She’s still a role model.”
Similar to Portman, Foster’s breakthrough in acting came at a young age when she was cast in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver at just 12 years old.
Following her critically acclaimed performance as a child sex worker in the 1976 film, Foster was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Portman said that she learned at a young age to project a tough exterior on film sets to avoid sexualisation by potential predators.
“That kind of projection of seriousness protected me in a way,” Portman claimed.
“‘Cause I feel like it was almost a warning signal like, ‘Oh, don’t do shit to her.’ Not that anyone ever, you know, deserves it or is asking for it. But I felt like that was my unconscious way of doing it.”
Portman added that her mom “was with me all the time and made sure that no one got near me” while working as a child actor.
The actress had to confront the reality of her stardom in Leon: The Professional last year after sexual assault allegations were hurled at the film’s director, Luc Besson.
“It’s a movie that’s still beloved, and people come up to me about it more than almost anything I’ve ever made,” Portman told The Hollywood Reporter.
“And it gave me my career, but it is definitely – when you watch it now – has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it. So, yes, it’s complicated for me.”
