Quotes By Natalie Portman

I always ask myself, would I want someone to do something that wasn't comfortable for them just to please me? And the answer is no.

Going to a party, for me, is as much a learning experience as, you know, sitting in a lecture.

It's always strange being a kid on the set, because you're treated like an equal when you're working. But then when you break, the other actors go back to their trailers to take naps and drink beer, and I have to, like, go do school.

It scares me to think that one day I'm not going to be in school anymore.

I don't mean to criticize anyone in any way that I wouldn't criticize myself. I think people should have fun, and have a good time, and enjoy the luck that we have to be lazy and dwell in consumerism. But I think that it's a balance. And our job as actors is empathy.

I usually dress very casual. Whenever I go out with my friends, I'm always like, 'Can't I just wear sweatpants?'

Awards are so unnecessary because I think we get so much out of our work just by doing it. The work is a reward in itself.

When I was in nursery school, the teachers asked me, y'know, 'What does your dad do for a living?' So I said 'He helps women get pregnant!' They called my mom and they were like, 'What exactly does your husband do?'

My dad's a doctor, and when I was 8, I went to one of his medical conferences where they were demonstrating laser surgery on a chicken. I was so mad that a chicken had to die, I never ate meat again.

I don't think I've ever been in love, I'm sure I will be some day. I've had enormous crushes, although I've never been into the Brad Pitt thing.

Committing yourself to one person is sacred.

I remember how to be a person by being around them.

'Star Wars' hasn't changed my life at all.

I'd like it if people thought I was Jewish looking.

Well, right now, I'm very fascinated with 1920s Berlin. I mean, probably the more interesting thing would be to go to the beginning of civilization or precivilization - like polytheistic times. It would be interesting to see what came before modern religion and culture - what circumstances created the environment or the need for it.

I'm afraid of everything. But maybe when you're afraid of everything, it sort of seems like you're scared of nothing.

Young actors often don't think of the consequences of doing nudity or sex scenes. They want the role so badly that they agree to be exploited, and then end up embarrassing family, friends, and even strangers.

I don't have a normal job, so I really appreciate having friends who are writers and artists. It's fun to have a group of people you can call in the middle of the day to go for a hike.

I think school is so much harder than real life. People are so much more accepting when they are adults.

The best part about being friends with your parents is that no matter what you do, they have to keep loving you.

I was really excited to get to shave my head - it's something I'd wanted to do for a while and now I had a good excuse. It was nice to shed that level of vanity.

I was like a total cliched '80s child. I had Barbies, obviously, as well as My Little Ponies and Cabbage Patch Kids, but I used to destroy them. I used to draw all over their faces and cut off their hair.

Smart women love smart men more than smart men love smart women.

Where I live, nobody who's fourteen is having sex and doing major drugs. And I think if you see it in the movies, you may be influenced by it. I think it's so important to preserve your innocence.

They tell me: 'OK, this is where we're going to push up your cleavage,' and I'm like, 'What cleavage?'

There's always pressure, from other people and yourself. If you're happy with the looks you're born with, then what are you going to do your whole life? We keep thinking up new things and finding better ways of doing things because we're not happy with what we're given.

I don't know if acting is what I want to do for the rest of my life, it's just what I've, you know, ended up doing when I was little, and I've kinda grown up with it.

Breast implants gross me out. I don't think they're attractive at all.

Ninety per cent of how you learn is watching great people. When you are surrounded by good actors it lifts your performance.

I tend to lean toward strong female stories. I want to make things that don't already exist out there.