“She did not like me”: why did Lauren Bacall hate Natalie Portman so much?
Working with a certified legend of ‘Golden Age’ Hollywood is a daunting prospect for any actor or filmmaker, especially when Lauren Bacall made it clear in no uncertain terms that she didn’t like Natalie Portman at all.
That must have stung especially hard for the Academy Award-winning Black Swan star, who named Bacall as one of the most important influences and inspirations on her own career, alongside fellow icons Audrey and Katharine Hepburn. It was a dream come true to collaborate with her on a project, until she realised the legend wasn’t her biggest fan.
Having shared the screen with Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, and Gary Cooper, as well as being directed by Robert Altman, John Huston, Howard Hawks, and Douglas Sirk, Bacall had spent plenty of time around the all-time greats, and a 26-year-old Portman simply didn’t cut the mustard.
They didn’t even cross paths on a feature, with Portman making her directorial debut on the 21-minute short film, Eve, which she also wrote and backed through her Handsomecharlie Films production company. She was thrilled to get Bacall on board, even if the feelings weren’t exactly reciprocated.
There were understandably nerves on the first-time filmmaker’s part, and with the story following Olivia Thirlby’s Kate visiting her grandmother, played by Bacall, it hardly seemed like something that would cause friction. And yet, due to her outspoken and headstrong nature, the Big Sleep star had no issues telling the debutant to stamp more authority on her set.
“I must be honest; she did not like me, but I loved her and admired her so much,” Portman said, per US Weekly. “She sensed in me what I learned later about myself, that I had a really hard time saying what I wanted and being the boss. It took me a few weeks to be comfortable saying, ‘I want this’, ‘I want that.'”
She knew that Bacall wasn’t an admirer, but it benefited her in the long run, with the lessons she learned from being on the receiving end of the actor’s scorn serving her well when she made the jump to feature-length storytelling and helmed 2015’s A Tale of Love and Darkness, which she also wrote, directed, and starred in.
“When I was 26 on Eve with her, I was not decisive, and she called me out on it and was totally right,” Portman explained. “But she was a total pro, despite the fact that she was so unimpressed by me. She was amazing in every take.” Bacall had never been known as a shrinking violet, and she’d called out plenty of more experienced names than her Eve director over the years, and it’s not like she was being malicious.
Her biggest problem with Portman was that she was too indecisive, too nervous, and too afraid to make the sort of difficult choices that are par for the course for any filmmaker when they’re in the midst of shooting, and that was enough to sour their relationship, although she did learn from the experience.
