Natalie Portman horrified to be sex symbol at 12

**MaryJane** · March 20th, 2006, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Natalie Portman is horrified she was considered a sex symbol aged just 12.

The stunning actress shot to fame playing a young, Lolita-esque orphan who befriends a hardened assassin in ‘Leon' in 1994.

Although she won universal acclaim for her stunning performance, the ‘Star Wars' beauty admits she found it disturbing that some men lusted after her - even though she was a child.

The brunette star, now 24, revealed to Britain's Independent newspaper: "I had a bad experience when ‘Leon' first came out.

"In hindsight, I'm really proud of that film, though at the time it was unnerving to find myself being suddenly looked upon as a sexual object when I was only 12."

femalefirst.co.uk

feliciakb · March 21st, 2006, 03:06 AM

Was this movie also called 'The Assassin'? Sounds like the exact same plot and I know Natalie was very young in it. It would have never occurred to me to think of her character that way. Just as a very pretty little girl. But I guess to creepy old pervs, pretty little girls *are* considered sex objects? Yuck.

Tenaj · March 21st, 2006, 03:55 AM

Didn't her part in that film say something to Leon though? when they were playing with that pig oven glove. I'm sure her character said something that could have been interpreted in that way.

buttmunch · March 21st, 2006, 04:57 AM

Perhaps she shouldn't have played nymphets if she didn't want to turn on the guys.

sweetness · March 21st, 2006, 08:28 AM

Hmm, when I saw this movie it was called The Professional. The guy's name was Leon though.

**PurpleHaze** · March 21st, 2006, 09:20 AM

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Originally Posted by buttmunch

Perhaps she shouldn't have played nymphets if she didn't want to turn on the guys.

i know you are not saying it's okay if guys get turned on by a young girl but it probably never occured to her with 12 that playing that role in leon guys would lust after her.
if i would see a movie with a young boy who's role is similar to hers in that movie i would never think that KID is sexy.
it's not normal to lust over kids, no matter if they are wearing miniskirts, talking sex or whatever, no matter if movie or not!

ourmaninBusan · March 21st, 2006, 09:51 AM

In the 3-hour version of the film, the relationship between them
is a bit more obvious. In the US version, not only does she
joke about being Leon's lover (it gets them kicked out of a hotel,
as I recall) but there is one truncated scene where she and Leon
are lying on a bed, and when she gets up, she seems to pull up
her drawers. (You don't see it, obviously, but you hear the sound
effect of clothes sliding on skin.)

I haven't seen the 3-hour version.

Eddieve · March 21st, 2006, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buttmunch

Perhaps she shouldn't have played nymphets if she didn't want to turn on the guys.

What a dumb thing to say! Did you find her to be a nymphet in Leon The Professional? There is something very wrong in regarding a 12-year-old girl as sexually desirable or thinking she must desire to be regarded as such. She was a kid. Kids are pure and so are their motives. I wish those watching kids were, too.

Tenaj · March 21st, 2006, 10:32 AM

^^I think as Ourman has just explained - the film Leon did skirt around that theme. Even the original post describes her character as a "Lolita-esque orphan"

OT - I'm half polish, welcome

**PurpleHaze** · March 21st, 2006, 10:47 AM

even if the character she played was a "Lolita-esque orphan" how can grown men find a kid sexy and be turned on by one?! sorry, but those people are sick!

Eddieve · March 21st, 2006, 10:49 AM

It's all in the eye of a beholder...

Hello Tenaj.
Excuse my English ( and my clumsy way of iterpreting things ).

Tenaj · March 21st, 2006, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurpleHaze

even if the character she played was a "Lolita-esque orphan" how can grown men find a kid sexy and be turned on by one?! sorry, but those people are sick!

Oh they ARE sick I agree.

Quote:

It's all in the eye of a beholder...

Hello Tenaj.
Excuse my English ( and my clumsy way of iterpreting things ).

I think your English is great, you should see my mum try to write English she can't spell to save her life and she's been living here for 24 years

Eddieve · March 21st, 2006, 10:58 AM

I like both of you already.

Ok, let me see your mum...

buttmunch · March 21st, 2006, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by buttmunch
Perhaps she shouldn't have played nymphets if she didn't want to turn on the guys.

What a dumb thing to say! Did you find her to be a nymphet in Leon The Professional? There is something very wrong in regarding a 12-year-old girl as sexually desirable or thinking she must desire to be regarded as such. She was a kid. Kids are pure and so are their motives. I wish those watching kids were, too.

I dont' think it's a dumb thing to say at all. She did play a nymphet and many men were turned on by it. I'm not saying it's right or wrong; it's a simple fact. Strangely, a colleague and I were talking about her the other day and he was saying that when he saw Leon as well as Beautiful Girls, he thought she was hot. He felt a bit dirty about it but still, couldn't help thinking she was hot and would be hot when she grew up. I asked Mr. Butt about this and he said that he too was pretty much thinking he couldn't wait for her to grow up because she was going to be hot.

And you know, there have been teenage boy actors that I have randomly checked as 'hot' as well. Doesn't mean I want to fuck them, but hey, a fantasy is a fantasy. Haven't any of you ever read Lolita?

miss_perfect · March 21st, 2006, 11:56 AM

That's true, I forgot about Beautiful Girls. Most of her movie roles are unnerving in that way. Even The Phantom Menace, it's creepy to watch her and some ten-year old make goo goo eyes at each other.