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"Closer" is a different kind of film for Natalie Portman: Longtime fans may be more than a little shocked to see the fresh-faced Queen Amidala of "Star Wars" fame playing a pink-wig-bedecked stripper. Portman has notoriously rejected roles she considered too racy, including "The Ice Storm," "The Horse Whisperer" and, most famously, "Lolita." But as she says in this interview, "Closer" — which also stars Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen — was far more taxing for her emotionally than physically. The film revolves around the complications arising from an unlikely love quadrangle, and it was a new challenge for the 23-year-old Harvard graduate (real name: Natalie Hershlag), as she told MTV News' Shari Scorca.
MTV: Why did you take this role?
Natalie Portman: Any [part that I read for] that scares me, that I think "Wow, I don't know if I can do this" — that's something I wanna try. A challenge like that keeps you stimulated and interested and obsessed with your work to a degree that you can really get deep into it.
MTV: Was it hard to play a stripper?
Portman: No. People keep focusing on that, and I find the emotional stuff much harder than the physical stuff. That scene was difficult in terms of what's happening between the characters, much more so than the physical aspect of it.
MTV: Did you get self-conscious about your body?
Portman: I was definitely ... you know, I just wanted to make sure that my body was plausible in a strip club, because I had this image that everyone at a strip club had huge breasts and is seven feet tall, but I went and I saw that they had all shapes and sizes. I guess people have different tastes, so as soon as I realized that, I was fine.
MTV: What's it like playing a role with Jude Law?
Portman: Jude is physically beautiful, but his insides match or exceed his outside. He's such a good person and such a smart person and such a fun person and such a good dad. He's just a great, great human being and I think that that's part of his sex appeal, 'cause it really radiates through him.
MTV: This is a very adult film. What should a young woman take from this film?
Portman: I think the greatest thing about this movie is that it doesn't tell you what to think. It just shows you human behavior in sort of a funny and shocking way. And then you take away from it what you bring to it, you know? Everyone has such different, strong reactions [to the film], and it's pretty amazing.
MTV: Can you tell us about your next "Star Wars" role?
Portman: Um, I don't think I can ... I don't think there's anything I could say that people probably don't know already, but we worked really hard and it was a really fun shoot and it's dark and there's great fight sequences and I think it'll be a good film.
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Photo: Columbia
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