The star said that being s-xualized as a child took away her own s-xuality as she was scared of her. She also claimed to be "boring".
The 39-year-old actress took to Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast on Monday to talk about her childhood, her parenting and the perils of growing up as a star.
The Jerusalem-born "Garden State" star turned 12 on the set of her first big movie, "Leon: The Professional," in 1994, revealing to Shepard that she "didn't allow full expression of who I was." at that moment"
Portman went on to explain how the industry affected her intim-te development.
"Being s-xualized as a child took away my own s-xuality because it scared me," said the actress, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of a twisted femme fatale in "Black Swan" and played similarly troubled characters in films like "Beautiful Girls." ", when I was 14 years old.
"So many people had this impression of me that I was very serious and prudish and conservative growing up," Portman told Shepard during their 90-minute conversation. “I consciously cultivated it because it was a way to make me feel safe. If someone respects you, they won't object to you."
In 1997, Portman was offered the role of Lolita in Adrian Lyne's film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 book about a middle-aged man who becomes s-xually involved with a 12-year-old boy.
She turned it down due to the overtly explicit content and because she didn't want to be seen as a mockery in real life.
Turning down roles and refusing to do kissing or love scenes became part of Portman's self-defense techniques.
She lamented, "At that age you have your own s-xuality, you have your own desire, and you want to explore things...but you don't necessarily feel safe." She added: "You build these fortresses."
Even Shepard admitted to having a photo of Portman in her toolbox "for 12 years" and said, "I became obsessed with you."
The star, who married French dancer Benjamin Millepied, called herself "boring."
Portman has spoken before on the subject. At the 2018 Women's March in Los Angeles, the star said she had been a victim of "s-xual terrorism," noting that the local radio station had a countdown to when she turned 18, "euphemistically, the date on which would be legal to sleep with"
Shepard pointed out that Portman has the "opposite trajectory" of many Disney stars, such as Miley Cyrus and Bella Thorne, who were cast in well-defined roles on screen, but then spilled over and owned their s-xuality exaggeratedly in public. .
"It's totally true," Portman said.
