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Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University where her mother was selling tickets. Her father returned to Israel, and the two corresponded and were married when her mother visited Israel a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. The family first lived in Washington, D.C., where Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, but relocated to Connecticut in 1988, and then settled permanently in Long Island, New York, in 1990.^[1] Portman has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home."^[10] She is an only child and very close to her parents,^{"nicole kidman" "transparent dress" class="reference">[1]} who are often seen with her at her film premieres.

Portman, who has been a vegetarian since childhood^[46] and became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals,^[47] is an advocate for animal rights. She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, riana nude or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney," she has said.^[48] It has been reported that she will appear alongside actress Elissa Sursara in a PETA PSA to support the group's anti-fur campaign at some point throughout 2009.^[49] In 2007, Natalie Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film a documentary titled Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman named a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play."^[50] In 2007, she launched her own brand of vegan footwear.^[51] Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids.^[52] She is also a member of the One Voice movement.^[53]