Appreciating all that makes America special

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman, www.greatamericanthings.net

From her debut as a teen actress to her Academy Award for Best Actress, Natalie Portman has always been a star. Uploaded by canim.net.

It’s not often that I can remember the first time I saw an actor or actress, but I remember watching Natalie Portman in the movie Beautiful Girls. It wasn’t her film debut, but it was the first time I saw her, playing a 13-year-old girl. I thought, Wow, this kid is terrific. She’s going to be a star. Wish I could pick stocks that well.

Natalie Portman, www.greatamericanthings.net

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Still, it was the new Star Wars movies (ack) that brought Portman to a wider audience. Though only 31 as of this writing, she’s already made some significant films, including:

  • Beautiful Girls (1996)
  • Mars Attacks! (1996)
  • Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999)
  • Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002)
  • Cold Mountain (2003)
  • Garden State (2004)
  • Closer (2005 – Nomination)
  • Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
  • The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
  • Black Swan (2010 – Best Actress)

I included those three Star Wars movies as “significant films,” which they certainly were. But Natalie Portman could have been Dame Judi Dench, and she couldn’t have rescued those turkeys.

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