The gorgeous and generous Natalie Portman is on the cover of the new issue of The New York Times Magazine.
And she’s talking about the buzzword of the day: philanthropy.
Everybody’s giving back, and so are we!
Here’s an exclusive excerpt from N. Port’s article:
In 2004, Natalie Portman, then a 22-year-old fresh from college, went to Capitol Hill to talk to Congress on behalf of the Foundation for International Community Assistance, or Finca, a microfinance organization for which she served as ‘‘ambassador.’’ She found herself wondering what she was doing there, but her colleagues assured her: ‘‘We got the meetings because of you.’’ For lawmakers, Natalie Portman was not simply a young woman — she was the beautiful Padmé from ‘‘Star Wars.’’ ‘‘And I was like, ‘That seems totally nuts to me,’’’ Portman told me recently. “It’s the way it works, I guess. I’m not particularly proud that in our country I can get a meeting with a representative more easily than the head of a nonprofit can.’’
Now, in the era of People and the E! channel and the global swarm of paparazzi, stars shape themselves, and their brands, through their own public acts. And their audience is not just fans but everyone; a star’s life is a kind of public movie. You have to do something with all that attention. As Portman says, ‘‘If they’re going to follow me around and take pictures, I’d rather talk about Finca than what dress I’m wearing or who I’m dating or whatever nonsense people care about.’’
She has stopped doing commercials. ‘‘I want to be comfortable and proud of everything I do,’’ Portman says. She has designed a line of vegan shoes. She doesn’t want to be controversial, but she does want to be taken seriously. When we spoke, Portman was about to leave for London on a publicity tour for her current film, ‘‘The Other Boleyn Girl.’’ Trying to be obliging, I said, ‘‘Would you like to say anything about your movie?’’ Portman laughed and said, ‘‘No.’’