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Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman has had a prolific career, whether one knows her from her appearances in Star Wars, Jackie, or Black Swan. She began acting as a 12-year-old, quickly progressing from the screen to Broadway stages, but her big breakthrough came when cast in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Her career took off from there, and, despite being a youth when she started in the industry, she paved a unique path for herself. After appearing in V is For Vendetta and The Other Boleyn Girl, the accolades and nominations began to pile up, eventually landing Portman an Academy Award for Black Swan.
One of her key mainstream roles has been in the Thor movies, and, in 2022, she reprised her role as Jane Foster in Thor: Love and Thunder. While Portman has had a plethora of appearances in big blockbusters and on two Broadway shows, some of her best work lie in the indie films she has starred in. It is in this kind of work Portman can show the depth of her range as an actor, allowing her the chance to shine in provocative roles. These are Portman’s best indie movies ranked.
5 Anywhere But Here
Portman originally almost turned down the role she played in Anywhere But Here because it was inappropriate for her age due to a sex scene, but, after the script was rewritten in hopes that she would be in the cast, she officially joined the project. Portman portrays Ann, the teenage daughter of Adele (Susan Sarandon) that moves them to Beverly Hills. Adele wants her daughter to become a Hollywood actress, but that is not what Ann wants for herself. As Adele spirals professionally and with her personal life, Ann dreams of nothing except escaping this household when tragedy strikes the family. Anywhere But Here is a coming-of-age story with layers, feeding off of the chemistry between the lead two actresses. An early predecessor to movies like Lady Bird, Anywhere But Here is worth a watch for Portman fans.
4 Paris, je t’aime
Paris, je t’aime is an anthology film that boasts the likes of Joel and Ethan Coen, Alfonso Cuarón, and Isabel Coixet among its 22 directors. In two hours, there are 18 short films combined to tell the collective story of Paris as a city, even if each short film’s location is technically different — although set inside of Paris. Portman stars in the short film directed by Tom Tykwer, which is about a blind man who thinks his girlfriend has broken up with him. The entirety of the plot is about him reflecting on their relationship and how everything eventually went downhill. Paris, je t’aime captures the heart and soul of Paris, although the majority of its directors are not French or Parisian.
3 The Darjeeling Limited
Before there was The French Dispatch or The Grand Budapest Hotel, there was Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman are estranged brothers whose father died a year before the film’s events. They have agreed to meet up in India after time apart, and they do so on the Darjeeling Limited, which cuts through the Himalayas. As the train approaches some of the most remote parts of the country, one of the brothers has a confession to make, creating even more tension between the brothers. Despite that, The Darjeeling Limited is a story about a psychological journey for the brothers, as well as the physical journey throughout India—a country in which none of them are natives.
2 Jackie
2016’s Jackie, directed by Pablo Larraín, seeks to subvert the expectations of who can tell a story about a tragedy. Portman stars as Jacqueline Kennedy in the days after her husband’s assassination, offering a quiet portrait of grief and trauma about a real-life figure. For many, what Kennedy went through in the aftermath of her husband’s death is unthinkable, but Jackie brings to life these moments—although it does tether her to the life and death of the male figure of her life rather than her life as something separate but connected. The movie was based on a magazine Kennedy did in 1963. This scene is also incorporated into the movie itself.
1 Black Swan
Black Swan is one of Portman’s best performances in her career so far, and it was also the role that landed her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Director Darren Aronofsky was fascinated by the concept of Dostoevsky’s The Double and doppelgängers, thus setting up Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman as rivals portraying the White and Black Swan. Nina (Portman), who is playing the White Swan, knows that she is initially perfect for the role, but as she slowly succumbs to the pressure of rivalry and her mental health, she begins to go mad. There is one thing certain about Black Swan: without Portman’s incredible performance, it may not have come across as well as it did on the screen.
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