When people talk about good acting, one of the most common ways to praise an actor is by talking about how they “transform” into their character. Performances that feel lived-in and real, often using some method acting techniques, are often the performances singled out by critics and award groups for praise and acclaim, as the highest form of performance. But sometimes, a role calls for an actor with a heavier touch.
Subdued or naturalistic acting has its place, but occasionally, you need an actor who doesn’t necessarily embody a character but heightens them, that takes their essential qualities and outsizes them to new extremes. More than any modern actor, Natalie Portman exemplifies the strengths of this latter type of acting. A child star turned adult A-lister , Portman has never quite been a performer who disappears into a role.
In almost every single role, you can feel the gears turning in her head and the sheer effort and calculations that go into the performance she delivers. That makes her an awkward fit for lighter fare; it’s not a coincidence that her two major franchise turns, her star-making work as Padmé in the “Star Wars” prequels and her stint in the MCU as Thor’s love interest Jane Foster, are generally considered lower points in her career. But when deployed properly, Portman’s specific acting style makes her one of the best and most interesting performers of her generation, an actor who can go for broke while playing mercurial, complicated .