On being a late bloomer while attending Harvard University: “OK, so I didn’t really go to high school parties and yeah, I didn’t touch pot till I was in my 20s. I didn’t get flat-out drunk until I went to college. But I think that’s a good thing in many ways.”
On her rumored romance with Sean Penn: “He’s obviously someone I’m friends with I mean, not ‘hey, wassup?’ friends, but we were all on the [Cannes 2008] jury together—Alfonso [Cuarón] and Marjane [Satrapi]—and we had a really great time, and then…It was one of those things where you’re like, ‘Oh, my God! I’m that person who’s caught in this shitty rumor brigade.’ You can’t win. You don’t say anything and everyone’s like, ‘It’s true.’ You say something, and you’re keeping the story alive. It’s bad, bad news.”
On harsh criticism of her Star Wars work: “My acting was not exactly respected in those films [laughs] but those are the moments when you want to prove yourself again. When people think I suck, it helps.”
On how the internet affects her roles: “Online bulls— interferes with what I want to do artistically. I’m not opposed to sexuality or nudity in a film, but I’m very opposed to pornography sites and you’re pretty much giving them material if you do any of that.”
On striving to be her best: “To be successful, you need the desire to be successful. Ambition can be a dirty word, but it’s pretty much more important than anything.”
Ok, used to love Natalie Portman, who didn't? I saw this really heinous documentary thing she did about gorrillas for the Discovery Channel. There was this one speech where she said "like," a thousand times in 2 minutes. Pet peeve. Huge pet peeve. Serious, this girl graduated from Harvard. She can find a way around it.
