The co-star who called Natalie Portman “one step further” than Daniel Day-Lewis
As many actors have found out over the years, just because they have a personal, deeply-held interest in something, it doesn’t mean they should necessarily make a movie about it. And that’s what’s probably about to happen with Natalie Portman and The Gallerist.
A self-avowed art connoisseur and daughter of an artist, Portman has long been involved in the world of paintings and sculptures, and so it probably seemed like a shoo-in when a black comedy about a gallery owner and her assistant rolled around, co-starring names like Catherine Zeta Jones and Jenna Ortega.
But early reviews aren’t great, and it appears Portman might have to continue to wait until she can hit the heights of her 2010 fame when she scooped a ‘Best Actress’ Oscar for the Darren Aronofsky horror Black Swan and was nominated again in 2016 for her performance in Jackie.
The latter was penned by House of Dynamite’s Noah Oppenheimer and was a historical drama focusing on the life of JFK’s long-suffering wife, Jaqueline Kennedy, aka Jackie Onassis, throughout her stay in the White House in the 1960s and in the immediate aftermath of her husband’s assassination.
Portman was a revelation in the lead role, her Oscar nomination one of three picked up by the film, which was helmed by the Chilean director Pablo Larraín. Probably the highest praise for Portman’s performance came from one of her co-stars, Peter Sarsgaard, who played JFK’s brother Bobby in the film.
He was not short in coming forward when tasked with summing up the work she did, comparing her to one of the greats of all time and saying, “If an actor’s giving a safe performance, no one in the room except the person they’re talking to can even hear them. But when an actor’s out on a limb like that, you think, ‘God bless you for having the guts to go for it.’”
He said he was reminded of Daniel Day-Lewis’s historic performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed drama There Will Be Blood from 2007, adding, “You can imagine being on that set going, ‘What is this man doing?’ But by the middle of that movie, you’re entirely used to it. I think Natalie actually does it one step further. The first couple of lines, you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re going there,‘ and then you just trust her.”
Also notable for being legendary British actor John Hurt’s final film, Jackie was a hit on release, making $36million from a budget of just $6m and getting rave reviews from critics who were especially impressed by Portman’s portrayal of the iconic First Lady.
Two years later, Portman starred in probably her best role since, as the lead in Alex Garland’s dazzling sci-fi horror Annihilation, and she also appeared in three Thor movies plus 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. While there are rumours, it doesn’t seem like she will be popping up in Avengers: Doomsday at the end of this year.
She has, however, received acclaim thanks to her voice work in the 2025 animated feature Arco, which has been nominated for ‘Best Animated Feature’ at this year’s Oscars. Portman also co-produced the film, which tells the story of a time-travelling ten-year-old from the year 2932 who heads a couple of hundred years into the past only to get stuck there. Other actors voicing characters include Andy Samberg, Will Ferrell and Mark Ruffalo.
