Natalie Portman arrives for Marvel Studios ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ world premiere at the El Capitan theatre in Los Angeles. File/AFP

Actress Natalie Portman hasn’t purchased or “used any leather or fur or animal products in 20 years.” The ‘Star Wars’ actress is passionate about a vegan lifestyle and is a prominent animal rights campaigner and as well as spurning garments created from animal products she no longer buys new clothes unless absolutely necessary, reports aceshowbiz.com.

“I haven’t bought or used any leather or fur or animal products in 20 years. I buy vintage clothes, and only if absolutely necessary, and of course repair damaged items,” she shared to The Hollywood Reporter. She has been a vegetarian since she was nine years old and went vegan in 2011 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s book ‘Eating Animals’.

The 41-year-old actress is committed to passing on those values to her children, Aleph and Amalia, who she has with her husband Benjamin Millepied as well educating them about climate change. She added, “We talk about (climate change) a lot in our household in terms of how we live, what we choose to do. My veganism is in large part an environmental choice, along with animal welfare.”

“The library plays a big role in the family consciousness as well. It is a place where we can get joy and greater selection by sharing and not owning. It’s a process, and clearly imperfect, but the consciousness is there.” She also applies her environmentally friendly beliefs to how she travels and uses “a car-share app that is all electric cars.”

Natalie Portman has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Portman began her acting career at age twelve, when she starred as the young protégée of a hitman in the action film Léon: The Professional (1994). While in high school, she made her Broadway debut in a 1998 production of The Diary of a Young Girl and gained international recognition for starring as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).

From 1999 to 2003, Portman attended Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She reduced her number of acting roles, but continued to act in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002, 2005) and in The Public Theater’s 2001 revival of Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull. In 2004, Portman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe Award for playing a mysterious stripper in the romantic drama Closer.

Portman’s career further advanced with her starring roles as Evey Hammond in V for Vendetta (2005), Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and a troubled ballerina in the psychological horror film Black Swan (2010), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She went on to star in the romantic comedy No Strings Attached (2011) and portrayed Jacqueline Kennedy in the biopic Jackie (2016), which earned her a third Academy Award nomination.

Agencies