Natalie Portman speaks up on troubled film

PORTMAN. Produces and stars in “Jane Got A Gun.”

LOS ANGELES—Natalie Portman, who stars in and produces “Jane Got a Gun,” lost her key actors in rapid-fire fashion: Michael Fassbender, Jude Law and Bradley Cooper. She also lost her original director, Lynne Ramsay, and famed cinematographer, Darius Khondji. As a result, reporters often used “troubled” to describe the production of this western. “It was definitely challenging,” Natalie admitted in a recent interview.

The actress-producer dealt with the headline-making problems by putting them in this context: “People have really hard things in life, like losing loved ones. So, it was important to remember that they were just some problems at work. But, we made the film. We had a great time, and I am excited to see what comes out!”

Indeed, the world awaits how “Jane Got a Gun” turns out, with Gavin O’Connor taking over as director and Ewan McGregor stepping in as the leading man. Natalie plays Jane Hammond, who fights a gang and defends her farm and her outlaw husband, barely alive from eight bullet wounds, with the help of her ex-lover.

On why she chose a western in her fifth foray into producing, Natalie explained: “It’s one genre that there haven’t been a lot of female protagonists in. It was such a great script, too.”

To prepare for the film, Natalie watched a lot of westerns. “It was fun getting to watch all the John Ford and Sam Peckinpah movies.”

Unfazed by the issues that plagued her as a producer, Natalie is taking on a bigger challenge. She will direct her first feature film, “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” an adaptation of the autobiography of author Amos Oz, the bestselling book in Israel’s history.

Project

Natalie said of her directing project (location hunting begins in the fall), “It’s going to be a completely different experience. When I met Amos, he said to me, ‘Don’t try and be faithful to the book. Make your own piece of art.’ That was really freeing.”

“I don’t see it as a political film or book,” Natalie added. “It’s a story about people and a family at a particular time in history. The best way for people to understand each other better is to hear particular stories. That’s a beautiful thing that film and literature can do.”

As if there aren’t enough exciting things happening in her life, Natalie, her husband Benjamin Millipied and 2-year-old son, Aleph, are moving to Paris next year. Benjamin takes over as the new director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet in September 2014.

“I’ve worked there for a few months at a time,” Natalie said of the City of Light. “This will be both our first time to live in Paris. So, we are very excited!”

Character

In the meantime, Natalie plays another Jane (Foster) in “Thor: The Dark World,” which has Chris Hemsworth in the title role and a cast that includes Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba. Asked if she relates to her character, a fish out of water in the sense that she’s a human amid Asgard’s world of superheroes, Natalie laughed as she replied, “All the time. We moved all the time when I was a kid. So, I was always the one who didn’t quite belong.

“In the movie, it was really easy, because I was the short Jewish girl with all the big blonde people.”

Of “The Black Swan,” which won her Oscar and Golden Globe Best Actress trophies, she enthused, “The experience of making that film was a real peak of collaboration. It was the best that I could imagine! The relationship I had with Darren (Aronofsky, director) was a dream in terms of the way we communicated and the flow of everything.”

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