“I experienced discrimination or aggression on almost every project I worked on, one way or another.”
Natalie Portman was at the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles this Sunday, Nov. 19, where she spoke out about cases of sexual assault in Hollywood.
“When I saw all these stories out in the open, I felt lucky to have never experienced anything like that, but after thinking, I thought, ok, I’ve never been sexually assaulted, but I experienced discrimination or aggression on almost every project I worked on, one way or another, “she explained. “I thought at first that I did not have a story to tell, and then I thought about it again and thought, ‘Wait, I have 100 stories’.”
The actress admitted that when she was younger, she refused roles that would have objectified her. She did not want to be associated with Lolita’s roles.
The actress wonders if this is a deliberate decision on the part of the leaders because it prevents women from having the opportunity to share their stories and that prevents the mentoring of women by other women. “You have to work hard to meet women who do the same thing as you, because there is often only one seat at the table,” she notes.
If the actress highlights several positive experiences with male directors, including Darren Aronofsky ( Black Swan ) and Mike Nichols ( Closer, The Seagull ), she recounts the time a director was dry with her, saying: “You He is tiring. ”
“I thought, I’m tired because I give my opinion about my work, and it was completely different with the actors who were with me in the same room,” she adds. “One of the actors I was working with defended me and told him that he was not listening to me, while he was listening to him, and they were saying the same thing.”