Natalie Portman would love a return to ‘Vox Lux’: “She was a very exciting character”
Some actors work at becoming famous stars for years, appearing in uncredited parts in the hopes of getting one step closer to their dream, or even taking on roles they’d really rather not do. Then there are those who get incredibly lucky, receiving their big breaks before they become adults. This was the case for Natalie Portman, who landed a main role in Leon when she was just 12.
The film, directed by Luc Besson, saw her play a young girl who returns home to find her family gunned down by Gary Oldman’s ruthless Norman and his fellow corrupt DEA agents. She takes shelter with the quiet hitman Leon, who trains her to become a killer in her quest for revenge. Her performance was highly praised, and it kick-started her career as one of the most famous actors of her generation.
It didn’t take Portman long to star in further acclaimed movies, appearing in Heat and Mars Attacks!, before landing the role of Padmé in the Star Wars prequel series. From there, she has continued to appear in a range of diverse titles, from the rom-com Garden State and the seductive tale of infidelity Closer to the dystopian film V for Vendetta and the period drama The Other Boleyn Girl.
It seems as though Portman refuses to box herself into one specific genre, but no matter what she does, she usually excels. She arguably reached the peak of her career with Black Swan, released in 2010, which earned her a ‘Best Actress’ win at the Academy Awards. Playing the obsessive ballerina who begins to lose her grip on reality, Portman demonstrated her talent for playing women with complex inner worlds.
These kinds of women seem to be the ones that attract Portman the most, as illustrated by her roles in later films like Jackie and May December. However, there is one challenging female character that Portman would love to play again if she had the chance.
“Celeste from Vox Lux would be a fun one. Honestly, she was a very exciting character to play,” she told L’Officiel in 2024. The film was the second directorial feature by Brady Corbet, who went on to direct The Brutalist, although Vox Lux received a much more lukewarm response. People had mixed opinions on the daring film, which featured quite a bold premise, but nonetheless, Portman gave her all to the performance.
The film, which only grossed $1.4million against a budget of $11m, saw her play a pop star who rises to success following a traumatic experience during a school shooting. Terrorism is a prominent theme that runs through the film and defines various key moments of her character’s life, which is complicated by both trauma and sudden fame. Also featuring Stacey Martin, Raffey Cassidy, Jennifer Ehle, and Jude Law, the film certainly has an impressive cast, but it evidently didn’t hit the mark in terms of commercial success or unanimous critical praise.
Still, Portman was a huge fan of the role, which saw her don some of the most out-there costumes of her career, and sing and perform like she’d never done before. She channelled a troubled pop icon with mesmerising ability, and perhaps she’ll get to reprise the role later in her career.
