Natalie Portman is an American actress. She has had a prolific film career from her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
Portman in 2023
Portman's costume from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts
Portman on the set of Free Zone in 2005
Portman at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where she served as a jury member
Léon: The Professional is a 1994 English-language French action-thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno and Gary Oldman, and features the film debut of Natalie Portman. The plot centers on Léon (Reno), a professional hitman who reluctantly takes in twelve-year-old Mathilda Lando (Portman) after her family are murdered by corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration agent Norman Stansfield (Oldman). Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the hitman's trade. The film was released in France by Gaumont and internationally through Gaumont Buena Vista International on 14 September 1994, and received mostly positive reviews from critics.
French theatrical release poster
Léon and Mathilda's apartment building on the northwest corner of E 97th St & Park Ave, pictured in 2003
