American actress Natalie Portman delivered a speech last Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Women's March in Los Angeles, California, to address her past traumatic experiences wherein she felt that she was sexually violated, even when she was just 13 years old. Portman's recent revelation follows the rise of the "MeToo" and "Time's Up" movements, wherein she is a very active participant, and serves as a spokesperson who addresses women's rights.
In Portman's speech, she opened up about how life was for her during the early years of her career. She said that she had received fan mails after her critically acclaimed role in Luc Besson's 1994 action-thriller film, "Leon: The Professional." Portman shared that she was initially very excited to read from her fans and was expecting that they would say positive things about her acting. However, one fan mail turned into a nightmare as it described to her a "rape fantasy." This particular mail has greatly traumatized Portman.
Additionally, Portman shared that a local radio station started a countdown that waited for the actress to turn 18 -- the age that the actress would be legal to sleep with. On top of that, she also stated that movie critics in the past would make comments on her breasts and took note when they were starting to grow. Portman revealed that at just 13 years of age, she had already realized that she would have to work hard to feel safe from "sexual terrorism."
These experiences prompted Portman to be very cautious in the entertainment industry in order for her to receive respect and dignity among her peers. This meant that she had to stray away from expressing her sexuality, and has kept a facade of being nerdy and serious, just to protect herself from being overtly sexualized and objectified by the press and by her fans. In fact, she had previously rejected roles if they had any kissing scenes in them to maintain a "prudish" image.
