Portman was born Natalie Hershlag (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג‎) in Jerusalem, Israel.^[5][6] Her father, Avner Hershlag, is an Israeli doctor specializing in fertility and reproduction (reproductive endocrinology).^[7][8] Her mother, Shelley Stevens, is an American homemaker who now works as her agent.^[7] Portman's Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium offical webpage maternal ancestors were Jews from Austria and Russia and her paternal ancestors were Jews who immigrated to Israel from Poland and Romania. Her paternal grandfather's parents died in Auschwitz and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for the British during World War II.^[9]

Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University where her mother was selling tickets. Her father returned to Israel, but 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 from Israel to the United States, where her father pursued his medical training. The family first lived in Washington, D.C., where she 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."^[9] She is an only child and very close to her parents,^{"nathalie portman" breast id="cite_ref-actors_0-3" class="reference">[1]} who are often seen with her at her film premieres.

In 2006, she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie, because "[f]or once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman,...but she's not coasting on her looks;...She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table".^[64] Portman had a small role in the 18th season of The Simpsons as the voice of Bart Simpson's first girlfriend, Darcy.^[65] She also appears in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" from his 2007 album Memory Almost Full, directed by Michel Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium offical webpage Gondry.^[66] Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short film Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman, in which she performed her first nude scene.^[67] She is scheduled to star opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in the drama film Brothers, a remake of the 2004 Danish film of the same name.^[68] In May 2008 Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury.^[3]

In June 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in psychology. While attending Harvard, she was a resident of the Lowell House^[12] and wrote a response letter to the Harvard Crimson that was considered "nathalie portman" breast very well-written, in response to an anti-Israeli essay.^[13]

In addition to being bilingual in Hebrew^[15] and English, Portman has studied^{upskirt nedel id="cite_ref-15" class="reference">[16]} French,^[17] Japanese,^[17] German^[18] and Arabic.^[19]

On the concept of the afterlife, she comments "I don't believe in that. I believe this is it, and I believe it's the best way to live."^[9] She has said that she feels more Jewish in the Holy Land and that she would like to raise her children in the Jewish religion: "A priority for me is definitely that I'd like to raise my kids Jewish, but the ultimate thing is to have someone who is a good person and who is a partner... I get much more Jewish in Israel".^[39] Portman supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for President in the 2008 U.S. elections but said that she "likes Obama as well".^{Nathalie Portman, interviews id="cite_ref-39" class="reference">[40]}

Portman appeared on Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2006,^[57] hosting the show with musical guest Fall Out Boy and special guest star Dennis Haysbert. In a SNL Digital Short,^[58] she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flava Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on pot and cocaine.^[59] In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment nathalie portmann of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession).