Natalie Portman has stayed strongly and proudly connected to her Jewish roots.
“I was lucky to be born in Israel in a very different time and in much better conditions. But there were still many similarities between my own family history and that of Amos Oz,” the talented actress and aspiring director recently shared with Jewishnews.co.uk.
The 'Black Swan' star tackled her directorial debut earlier this year, and chose to pay tribute to her roots by selecting the filming site of Jerusalem for her first film. The intellectual actress chose 'A Tale of Love and Darkness' as the stirring story to embark on her journey as a director. Written in Hebrew by Oz, the tale follow's the author's life journey in Israel.
Portman had to brush up her Hebrew for her starring role in the film. Despite the language being her native tongue, it still proved a difficult task to fully communicate the script in the end.
"My Hebrew is good, but I make a lot of mistakes, so I worked with a language coach for the entire pre-production," Portman shared with The Los Angeles Times in an interview earlier this year. "And though an accent is fine for the character, who is an immigrant to Israel, my American accent had to be worked on as well.
Portman's husband Benjamin Miliepied even converted Judaism, and the two have rumored to be looking for a flat in her homeland.
