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THE 43-YEAR-OLD ACTRESS - WHO ROSE TO FAME AS A CHILD IN 1999'S 'STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE' - INSISTED THAT DESPITE GROWING UP IN THE SPOTLIGHT AND DEVELOPING
A "SERIOUS PERSONA" TO COMBAT PEOPLE'S PERCEPTIONS OF HER, SHE IS STILL FIGHTING AGAINST IT 11:47, 29 May 2025 Natalie Portman thinks people still "treat her like a
child". The 43-year-old actress - who rose to fame as a child in 1999's 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' - insisted that despite growing up in the spotlight
and developing a "serious persona" to combat people's perceptions of her, she is still fighting against it. During a conversation about Jenna Ortega, Natalie told
Harper's Bazaar magazine: "We're both physically tiny, so people will often treat you like a child forever. "I'm 43 now, and people kind of pat me on the head. I
don't look like a child, but I often feel like I'm treated like a kid. "Child actors often cultivate a serious persona because otherwise they'll get treated like kids
forever. "When you start working as a kid, you kind of always feel like a kid in the workplace. Having some of that seriousness helps remind people, 'I'm a grown-up.'
" Natalie and Jenna have worked together in new comedy thriller 'The Gallerist', and the 'Fountain of Youth' actress noticed they have a similar process in between
takes. She explained: "We don't sit in a chair; we just kind of squat in the corner. "Catherine Zeta-Jones, who was also a child actress, said she did it too - that it's
a way of grounding yourself. "There'd be all these chairs, but we'd just squat and look at each other and be like, 'Wow, this is weird.' " Meanwhile, Jenna
opened up on how much it's helped her becoming friends with the likes of Natalie, Winona Ryder and Natasha Lyonne, who all understand the journey she's on. She said:
"It's been so beneficial and so cozy. They've seen it all, and, honestly, during a much darker time in Hollywood. Article continues below "We've all got this jaded
way about us that I don't think we'd have if we hadn't started so young and had so many brutal realisations and experiences... "But they turned out all right."