Natalie Portman

[queequeg]

Ugh, just shut up Natalie. She seems so snotty. Plenty of actresses have been to Ivy League colleges- she really isn't as special as she thinks she is.

I kind of wish she had won the Oscar because then maybe the curse of the best supporting actress might have got her.

Natalie flailing about in obscurity with Marisa Tomei would be sweet.

[baretta]

Please, allow me, as I've found a more complete quote on the Vanity Fair nonsnub Bruhaha.

If we are going to tar and feather the girl over a quote attributed to her publicist, rather than Natalie herself, we should at least have more of the quote (as first published by the NY Daily News) not just the rehashed partial quote from the Toronto Star.

COVER OR ELSE

February 21, 2005 -- MOST movie stars would kill to be on the cover of Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue, which features Julianne Moore, Jennifer Connelly and Gwyneth Paltrow. But some didn't want to be buried in the gatefold with the likes of Claire Danes, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Kate Bosworth and Rosario Dawson.

Natalie Portman's p.r. woman, Kelly Bush, said she told VF that Portman wasn't interested in posing because: "Natalie is in Israel in school. She has been on the cover four times in three years. She would not have been on the front panel of the pullout, and it seemed like a long way for her to go for a photo shoot she didn't need."

NY Post source story

I see. The first gossip column created a storyline to make it sound like Natalie felt she was better than the other actresses under the fold. The headline “Cover or else” is created by the writer, but presented as if Natalie herself made some demand to the magazine. And then the Toronto Star went further by creating the statement that "she passed because she didn't like her placement." The 'sniff' part was extra, too.

This is misleading because not being on the cover was the third reason given by the publicist for Natalie passing on the offer:

Natalie is in school in Israel
Natalie was on the cover four times in the last three years
Natalie doesn't need a cover where she would not be visible

Both of the reports fail to mention Natalie was on the Vanity Fair Star Wars cover the month before the Hollywood issue. The Toronto Star also mentions Natalie had already been a front panel Hollywood issue goddess at age 16. Why be demoted?

Doesn't really seem like a snub after all; they made something out of nothing. It sounds reasonable and more like she is not a big publicity hog.
By Natalie declining, a lesser-known hopeful starlet got to be on the Vanity Fair cover foldout for the first time!!! ;D

[Maddiemoo]

Loved her in Beautiful Girls, when she was a wee thing. Since then, meh. My issue with her in SW is that you can tell she doesn't want to be there and it effects her work. If you don't like the movie, that's fine, but don't ruin it for the viewers. She may have slightly redeemed herself in Garden State, but I'll have to wait and see how she does in Episode 3 to make a true like her/don't like her decision.

[agnesnitt]

Her non-prescene in the trailer, along with the 'smell-the-fart' stills don't bode well for Ep. III.
*evil laughter*
Nothing would make me happier than Episode III finally convicing the rest of the world that she cannot act.

[foxfair]

I dunno Baretta - both quotes basically say to me: she would have done it had she been on the cover. It doesn't really matter if the info is from the horse's mouth or from the publicist's mouth, since the publicist's job is literally speaking for the horse.

[baretta]

I didn't say that the publicist wasn't relaying th exact words of Natalie. I just pointed out that the quote is not attributed to Natalie.

The thing is, the publicist doesn't even say "the cover or nothing." She just says that it's a long way for Natalie to travel (Israel to the US) for a photoshoot where she's not on the cover, right?

It doesn't even say anywhere that she would have made the trip if she had been offered the cover.

My argument is that the "Cover or Else" narrative is not supported by the text of either quote. [edited: It's the Toronto Star that takes liberties with the NYDailyNews quote, and adds the part about her being unhappy with her placement.]

Here's the "quotes" from both articles.

NYDailyNews: Natalie Portman's p.r. woman, Kelly Bush, said she told VF that Portman wasn't interested in posing because:

"Natalie is in Israel in school. She has been on the cover four times in three years. She would not have been on the front panel of the pullout, and it seemed like a long way for her to go for a photo shoot she didn't need."

Toronto Star: Well, maybe not every actress is thrilled. The New York Post's Page Six gossip column reported this week that Natalie Portman, a Best Supporting Actress nominee tonight for Closer, passed up a chance for a Hollywood cover repeat this year because she didn't like her placement. She had last appeared on the 1998 cover, a front-panel goddess at age 16.

"She would not have been on the front panel of the pullout, and it seemed like a long way for her to go (from her schooling in Israel) for a photo shoot she didn't need," Portman's spokesperson Kelly Bush sniffed.

If somebody can find me a quote where either of them say, "Natalie would have been on the next flight over if she'd been offered the front panel" then I will change my mind [edited: "change my mind" means I will add "The cover or Else!" as a direct reason, along with the others mentioned]. Otherwise, the available material just doesn't support that claim.

From the quote it sounds more like she is not interested in being on the cover because she's already been on the cover four times in the last three years.


Added: It's not that big of a deal. I just noticed the quotes were slightly different (with some of the original ommitted) when I read that Vanity Fair bruhaha on another forum and found it interesting, how different meanings (fame-whore brat vs reasonable professional) can be perceived or created from basically the same story. But yeah, I'm finished talking about it. lol Now where'd that celebrity endowment thread get off to???

[Deleted]

Does the exact wording really matter? Natalie didn't feel like traveling if she wasn't on the cover.

Course none of this changes the fact that she's a vapid, pretentious, wooden actress with nothing to recommend herself but a vaguely pretty but bland face.

[agnesnitt]

How her agent is gonna keep bribing journalists to prostrate themselves over her superiority after her insipid 'You love me!' speech at the Golden Globes is beyond me.
Truly, it confirmed the Portman hate. Oh, yes- she even sucks when she's advertising shampoo in her horrible, horrible monotone.
And she's appeared in a really bad looking movie with Steve Guttenberg in it. Just check the poster. Steve Guttenberg. Wonder how much work her publicist had to do to keep that one underwraps?

[Deleted]

Was anyone else expecting Diane Sawyer to slap her after that speech? Cause I know I would be all like, "Get your little faux Lolita/precious princess hands off my hubby!"

[Deleted]

She is an annoying little twit. She's no doubt pretty, but I just started reading her interviews this year and my Gawd. Hate. She's such a pretentious little snot and a bad actor for the most part. I find it creepy that she's pretty much fawned over by males in the industry simply because she inspires the Lolita lust. Ew. She still looks like a twelve year old.