Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (Neta-Lee Hershlag) born June 9, 1981) is an Israeli-born American (with dual citizenship) actress, producer, and director. Her first role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon: The Professional, opposite Jean Reno, but mainstream success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (released in 1999, 2002 and 2005). In 1999, she enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology while still working as an actress. She completed a bachelor's degree in 2003.
In January 2011, Portman became an ambassador of Free the Children, an international charity and educational partner, spearheading their Power of a Girl campaign. She hosted a contest challenging girls in North America to fundraise for one of Free The Children’s all-girls schools in Kenya. As incentives for the contest winner, she offered her designer Rodarte dress, worn at the red carpet premier of Black Swan, along with tickets to her next premiere. Free the Children’s all-girls school was also the beneficiary of proceeds from sales of Nude Grege #169, the lipstick Portman designed for Christian Dior. It was announced in May 2012 that Portman would be working with watch designer Richard Mille to develop a limited-edition timepiece with proceeds supporting Free the Children. In February 2015, Portman was among other alumni of Harvard University including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, Darren Aronofsky and Susan Faludi who wrote an open letter to the school demanding it divest its $35.9 billion endowment from coal, gas, and oil companies.
Later that year in May, she spoke at the annual Harvard Class Day to the graduating class of 2015
