Natalie Portman has always been an adult at heart.
Think back to her 1994 debut in "The Professional," where the then-11-year-old shoots guns and flirts with fortysomething hitman Jean Reno. Recall "Beautiful Girls" two years later, when Timothy Hutton finds his ultimate soul mate is Portman's wise-beyond-her-years Marty. And even her most recent movie, "Anywhere But Here," had her playing the grounded adult to a flighty, Hollywood-loving mother (Susan Sarandon).
And just when she's catching up at the tender age of 18, Portman's film roles take her to new levels of adulthood in "Where the Heart Is," her first starring role. She ages from 17 to 22 over the course of the movie, which required Portman to undergo physical change, and not just the fake belly she has to wear for her pregnancy (but we'll get to that later).
"Well physically, they gave me some boobs," Portman says with charm. "They gave me different hairstyles, more mature makeup. When people physically buy that you're older than you are, it helps a lot in your confidence and acting more mature. And really from 18 to like 22, 23, it's not that big a change in terms of behavior."
Maybe not for Portman, who has avoided the teen-movie genre altogether and can name Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Woody Allen as former co-stars. Despite starting her career at age 11, she opted for public high school rather than tutors, even when she spent her nights on Broadway as the lead in "The Diary of Anne Frank." And while some of her celebrity peers struggle against drugs and alcohol, Portman recently lamented giving up gummy worms (Portman's a strict vegetarian, and that includes gelatin, you see.)
'Says Stockard Channing of her young co-star, "She's a very intelligent, very talented, beautiful young woman. But she's also [just] a 17, 18-year-old young woman. She likes clothes, she likes gossip and music. She's very normal in that way, and that normalcy is -- sort of abnormal considering the huge success she's had. She's a very well-balanced person, and that's very admirable."
Portman's onscreen persona is also normal girl with the added responsibility of motherhood in "Where the Heart Is," opening April 28, which hands-down wins the award for Most Peculiar Character Names. Portman plays Novalee Nation, a 17-year-old pregnant girl whose no-good boyfriend Willy Jack (Dylan Bruno) abandons her as she makes a pit stop at a Wal-Mart in the middle of Oklahoma. With no possessions save for a Polaroid camera, Novalee lives in the store after it closes, using Wal-Mart's vast supplies and keeping track of what she owes. When she finally gives birth on the floor, she becomes an instant celebrity.
"I really hadn't had experience with children 'cause I'm an only child and really didn't baby-sit very much growing up," Portman enthuses. "So it was really cool being with the young kids and stuff. It's so much fun to have babies around and little kids."
It even got her thinking about motherhood a little bit.