Natalie Portman admitted it was “hard” going through awards season while she was pregnant in 2011, recalling a specific experience at the Oscars that year.
“I couldn’t drink at all during all of those events, which was hard,” Portman, 43, said during the Tuesday, May 20, episode of the “Dish from Waitrose” podcast. “It’s a lot of stress. It’s a lot of attention. … And I was sober while everyone else was not.”
Portman said she was “so big” because of her pregnancy, which led to unwanted comments.
“Everyone was like, ‘Oh, you’re going to pop.’ I was like, ‘I’m four months pregnant.’ Everyone was like, ‘You must be giving birth tomorrow. Hope it doesn’t happen on the red carpet,’” the actress recalled. “I was like, ‘I’ve got five more months to go.’”
Portman joked she was “probably the only actress eating my way to the Oscars” that year.
In February 2011, Portman took home the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Nina Sayers in Black Swan. She gave then-fiancé Benjamin Millepied — whom she met on the film’s set — a shout-out in her acceptance speech.
“My beautiful love, Benjamin Millepied, who choreographed the film and has now given me my most important role of my life,” Portman said at the time, referencing motherhood. (The pair welcomed their son, Aleph, in June 2011.)
Portman and Millepied, 47, married in June 2012 and expanded their family in 2017 with daughter Amalia. Us Weekly confirmed in August 2023 that Portman and Millepied had separated after 11 years of marriage. They finalized their divorce in February 2024. (It’s been widely reported that Millepied was unfaithful before the couple’s split.)
Following her divorce, Portman has started to speak more candidly about her role as a mom.
“My kids are always a source of excitement, because you just see them develop into the individuals they are,” she said in an Interview Magazine profile published last month. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with my friends, with their kids and my kids; that’s pretty fun.”
She was asked during the same interview whether having a family allowed for “balance” in her personal and professional life.
“Having kids, that wasn’t really my motivation,” she replied, referring to her ex. “I was just excited to have kids, and with a person that I was in love with. But it’s really important to have people in your life who keep you on the ground.”
