Natalie Portman finds the late Audrey Hepburn’s charity work “inspirational”.
Natalie Portman loves Audrey Hepburn
The 42-year-old actress has expressed her admiration for the ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’ star - who passed away in 1993 aged 63 - for swapping the “glamour” and “allure” of Hollywood to work as an anti-poverty campaigner after cementing a name for herself as an activist.
Speaking before the strike be actors union SAG-AFTRA, the 42-year-old actress told the UK edition of Readers Digest: “Audrey Hepburn is one of the most inspirational people to me because she left acting to go work with UNICEF.
"I just saw a compilation of all her visits to Africa, and I was crying. To be able to leave the glamour behind, and all the allure of movies, and be real and help people is an admirable thing to do."
Natalie - who has son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, six, with Benjamin Millepied - also spoke about the French film industry insisting it is much more female-friendly than Hollywood - and believes it's because of France’s better welfare state.
She told the same outlet: “It’s really interesting in France, when you see the young generation of directors - almost entirely female. I think there are so many factors that go into that. I think that one is that there is a much greater social network in France for women. There is great childcare that is free that we do not have in the US, which is a really big issue for women who are mothers.”
Natalie also revealed how found the pivot to production in her new movie ‘May December’ - which also stars Julianne Moore, 62 - gave her a “new appreciation” for the behind-the-scenes work of “organised” director Todd Haynes, 62.
Natalie said: “Obviously, having 30 years of [the] work experience I’ve had informs it, but you get a whole new appreciation for what goes on, just to push the movie - or series - up the hill.
“Todd is such a dream. He’s so organised, prepared, such a great leader. It’s one of those projects where everything really flows, which is a joy, because more often, it’s quite the contrary."
Tagged in Audrey Hepburn Julianne Moore Natalie Portman