Monday, January 17, 2005

Natalie Portman at Hebrew U.

I keep getting e-mail updates from my students who are studying abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Inevitably, each of the e-mail updates ends with a story about how the student has run into Natalie Portman who is also taking classes at the Mt. Scopus campus. Here is an update on what she's doing in Israel:

From the London Times Online
Profile: Natalie Portman: Not quite as innocent as she first appears

Portman is now preoccupied with a new project in Israel, which she considers her homeland. She is working with Amos Gitai, the Israeli director, on a film about a JewishAmerican girl’s attempts to discover her heritage. In the same spirit, Portman has been studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“Living in Israel is really beautiful,” she said recently. “One of the most shocking things is how peaceful it feels.”

She could be in line for an Oscar, but the prospect leaves her unmoved. “It’s not important,” she says.

She was born Natalie Hershlag in Jerusalem to Avner, a Jewish fertility specialist, and Shelley, an artist from Ohio. At the age of three she accompanied them to New York, where they settled in the upmarket suburb of Syosset.

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