Natalie Portman Says She and Jodie Foster Had ‘Amazing’ Talk About ‘Being Sexualized’ as Child Stars

Former child actors Natalie Portman and Jodie Foster have a lot in common.

On an episode of the Smartless podcast, Portman, 42, recalled her first movie role, in 1994’s Léon: The Professional, and reflected on navigating Hollywood as a young performer. Portman shared how fellow Oscar winner Foster, 61, contacted her after a 2018 speech she gave at the Women’s March in Los Angeles.

“I did a speech at a Women’s March about being sexualized as a young actress, and she reached out to me after that, and we talked and it was amazing,” Portman said. “She’s still a role model.”

Portman also recalled how she managed to avoid bad interactions while working at a young age and how she spots potential predators now.

“That kind of projection of seriousness protected me in a way. ‘Cause I feel like it was almost a warning signal like, ‘Oh, don’t do s— to her,’ ” said Portman. “Not that anyone ever, you know, deserves it or is asking for it. But I felt like that was my unconscious way of doing it.”

She added, “I feel like the biggest sign is when people talk s— about women. If they talk s— about anyone, even if they’re just like, ‘Ugh, she’s really difficult,’ that’s a [red] flag for me. There’s more to that story.”

Portman also explained that her mom “was with me all the time and made sure that no one got near me” while working as a child actor. Then, “When I went to college, my dad was like, ‘Okay, that was cute. Time to move on. Let’s find another job — a real job.’ ” She went to Harvard University for psychology.

Foster, meanwhile, went to Yale University to study African-American literature after years of making films as a kid.

While on the Today show last month, the Nyad actress — who was 12 when played a sex worker in 1976’s Taxi Driver — said of growing up in the spotlight, “It is weird growing up as a public figure. I don’t recommend it for anybody. I think it’s a tough road. Especially when you start so young.”

“It’s a long road of figuring out, like, who you are and who’s your job and what part of you is your job. All that stuff,” added Foster.

In her 2018 speech at the Women’s March, Portman recounted the “environment of sexual terrorism” she experienced as a teen after starring in The Professional, which she made at age 12.

“I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort,” she said at the time.

Last year, Portman told The Hollywood Reporter that her view on that breakout movie role remains “complicated.” Said the May December actress: “It’s a movie that’s still beloved, and people come up to me about it more than almost anything I’ve ever made, and it gave me my career, but it is definitely, when you watch it now, it definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it. So, yes, it’s complicated for me.”