It's strange to think that there was a time when Natalie was struggling to get any work. After Star Wars Episode 2 landed, she spoke about how everyone thought she was a bad actress and even getting directors to meet with her was proving difficult. Natalie talks about Cold Mountain as the turning point and it was Mike Nichols (who had directed Natalie in The Seagull) who wrote to Anthony Minghella and basically vouched for Natalie's ability.
It was a great performance and her career was back on track, cemented by Garden State and then her Golden Globe winning turn in Closer, which Mike Nichols directed himself. During her acceptance speech she sweetly and awkwardly expressed how much Mike meant to her.
That's a long intro but the setup is for a new piece by The Hollywood Reporter about Mike Nichols. It has some new quotes from Natalie and about Natalie, and you can read them after the jump.
Okay, these tidbits are more the usual garden variety, But who doesn't like gardens?
- Let's kick off with some quotes from Natalie's visit to the Audrey Hepburn Children's House for their 10th anniversary.
"They've been doing such incredible work for the past 10 years now," Portman said.
"It's a celebration of his mother's life," Portman said after touring the facility with Hepburn. "And all of the values that she established and being acted out here everyday, taking care of children who — unfortunately — aren't being taken care of as they deserve."
- People has a new sighting of Natalie taking Aleph to Serafina Fabulous Pizza in NYC.
The Oscar winner kept her little one on her lap the entire meal, feeding him a few bites and waiting for him to fall asleep before she began eating her own meal, a salad.
An onlooker tells PEOPLE Portman was "doting on him the entire time."
- Finally, here is a video interview with Richard Mille from the evening of the dinner with Natalie. He doesn't really talk much about her, but might be worth a watch (pun intended) if you're interested.
How great was it seeing Natalie rapping for SNL again? Honestly, I'd rather see another full on rap video than a sequel to The Professional. Gawker has a better quality version of the video we posted on the weekend, so make sure you check that out.
We've also set up a gallery for the new appearance. Click the thumbnail below to have a look.
It's funny, you almost don't need paparazzi when you're in NY. We had this and this and now a stalkery Instagram snap from behind.
Would you do the same or would you be willing to risk friends giving you the "yeah right" treatment when you tell the story of how you momentarily shared the same sidewalk as Natalie?
Here are a few short news items but even though they are short in stature, they are by no means small.
- Let's start with the news that Natalie will be making an appearance at Cannes...sort of. Natalie is on the guest list for charity event hosted by Prince Albert and Bill Clinton. The Bill Clinton Foundation is the recipient and Natalie has worked with them on more than one occasion in the past.
Whether we see her at the actual Cannes Film Festival remains to be seen. Sure would be nice to see her walking the carpet as she hasn't done so since she was a jury member in 2008.
- I was finally able to hear from my source about the Sofia Coppola Barbarella rumour. Personally, I thought it was so outlandish that it might just be true...but the response I got from my source was a to the point "no".
- I also found out that it was Dior who asked Natalie to take part in the Neshat short film although I still don't know what the content of the film is and if the film has commercial links.
Natalie was spotted saying goodbye to her mother at the airport before departing from New York City with Benjamin and Aleph last Friday. Her MIA pup Whiz also made an appearance! I think it's probably safe to assume that he's been living with her parents. Note: Natalie's baby is clearly pictured in a majority of the photos, so you might want to steer clear of this set if that bothers you.
Natalie had a surprise cameo in last night's Saturday Night Live. She popped up briefly in the show's 100th Digital Short, rapping and tossing baby dolls off of balconies. Watch it now before NBC yanks it (Nat appears at the 1:52 mark)!
UPDATE - Aaand it's gone. If Hulu isn't available in your country, you can watch the flipped version here on YouTube.
There have been a ton of new HQ and MQ additions to the New York City Ballet's Spring Gala gallery since Thursday, so make sure to check them out if you haven't already!
With Natalie's NYC Ballet Spring Gala look getting some positive write ups - InStyle look of the day - I wonder if the look will be as received by her fans. So...
As for the last poll, the results were pretty conclusive - even though it's a short film that we have few details for, half of the voters thought it was the most exciting news of last week.
Garcy found a brief video clip of Natalie arriving at the Spring Gala last night. Benjamin escorts her but doesn't get a shout out from the cameraman like Natalie does.
Before we get to Natalie tidbits, a little site update. The server switch has been pleasing and the figures show the site is a lot more responsive. The problem, as you would have noticed if you tried the site earlier, was that the new hosts don't have a quick system reboot option. So today the site was down and needed a reboot, but it was over an hour and a half before they got around to it.
So we're looking at our options. Now onto some Natalie news items...
- Natalie is the Honorary Chair(wo)man for the NYC Spring Ballet Gala, which is held tonight. Given that fact and that Benjamin has a new ballet premiering, I think we can definitely expect some photos of Natalie later tonight. You can find ticket info here but I presume they would have sold out awhile ago.
- You can get a cool, copyright infringing, Mathilda t-shirt over here.
- Finally, the NY Post spotted Natalie and two friends in a nook at Il Covo in West Hollywood.
Thanks to Toto we finally have a glimpse of Natalie's speech from the Holocaust Museum last month. The video is a news report of the whole event, but the impatient can skip to the 3 minute mark for Natalie quoting Aung San Suu Kyi.
Thanks to Kitten for spotting another stalker style tweet pic. This one, featuring Natalie, Ben and the centre of attention, Aleph, was taken on the 7th of May at the Frieze Art Fair.
