Natalie In A Nutshell
Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel in June of 1981. Though she now lives with her family in New York City, she often visits relatives in Israel - in some ways, still her home-sweet-home. "It's home for everyone," she's said. "The major religions of the world all started there. You go there and you feel this spirituality."

Despite her success as an actress, Natalie feels that her down-to-earth home life helps keep things in perspective. "I feel really lucky," she's said, "because my parents have helped me. I go to public school. My friends are regular kids. Our house is really regular. We have a dog. We live with trees. That's important."

On A Role
Natalie was discovered by a modeling scout while chowing down on pizza in a Long Island, New York restaurant a few years back. Modeling quickly turned to acting, and she promptly proceeded to snag roles in three back-to-back movies - 1994's "The Professional," 1995's "Heat" and this year's "Beautiful Girls." Natalie appears in two movies this month: "Everyone Says I Love You" and Mars Attacks!," which hits the big screen this week.

Give This Girl Some Space
Though she loves acting, Natalie's keeping her options open, professionally speaking. She's mentioned that in the future she might like to pursue a career as an astronaut.

Pass The Veggies, Please
Natalie has been a strict vegetarian since she was 8 years old. It all started when her dad, who's a doctor, took her to a medical conference. What she heard there quickly changed her eating habits. "They were talking about animal testing, and all I could think about was my dog, Noodles," Natalie explained. "I never ate meat again."

 

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Taken from BOP magazine.