Natalie Portman says she felt ‘unsafe’ by being sexualized as a child star

Natalie Portman has shared that as a child star in Hollywood more than 20 years ago, she often felt ‘unsafe’ and hyper aware of the sexualization she was exposed to as a minor.

The 37-year-old actress shared her experience as a child star while talking about her latest film, Vox Lux. 

In the movie, which is currently in theaters, Portman plays a troubled pop icon who survived her own bout of childhood trauma. 

‘She is such a wild character, but she’s also someone I felt was a real person, who is the product of this life that has happened to her,’ Portman explained to People. ‘You see in this film how a young girl is packaged into this brand, and it’s kind of separate from her. 

‘I experienced a different degree of it, in a different way, and obviously I have very different support system than the character in the movie, but you see what the culture wants from you, or demands from you and wants to put out there.’

Portman – who made her film debut in 1994’s Leon: The Professional – spoke at the 2017 Women’s March about how her first piece of fan mail was a man’s rape fantasy letter. 

Portman spoke at the 2017 Women’s March about how her first fan mail was a rape fantasy letter

‘I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort,’ said Portman – who made her film debut in 1994’s Leon: The Professional

‘I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort,’ she said. ‘I felt the need to cover my body and to inhibit my expression and my work in order to send my own message to the world that I’m someone worth of safety and respect.’ 

Portman, now understands that the powers at be in charge of her career helped shape how she was perceived. 

‘I know I was sexualized in the ways that I was photographed or portrayed, and that was not my doing,’ she added. ‘That becomes a part of your public identity.’ 

‘I know I was sexualized in the ways that I was photographed or portrayed, and that was not my doing,’ she added. ‘That becomes a part of your public identity’

The Black Swan star felt that the distinction for young women in the industry falls on who they want to be versus who others want them to be. 

She said: ‘It’s complicated to have your own private development and maturation alongside that [pressure] as a person, kind of having these double identities. And I think that it’s a big conversation about how many different kinds of things girls and women can be.’ 

Recently, Portman came under fire for admitting that as a teen she was confused as to why Jessica Simpson was on a magazine cover in a bikini while highlighting that she was a virgin. 

After Simpson said that she felt shamed by the comments, Portman clarified that she was commenting more so on the mixed messaging presented by the shoot.