Natalie Portman Says She's Never Attempted Method Acting: It's a 'Luxury That Women Can't Afford'

Natalie Portman draws a clear line between her real life and the lives of those she portrays onscreen.

In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, Portman touched on her reasoning for not pursuing Method acting, explaining that she has "gotten very into roles, but I think it’s honestly a luxury that women can’t afford."

Further elaborating on that stance, the May December star said, "I don’t think that children or partners would be very understanding of, you know, me making everyone call me ‘Jackie Kennedy’ all the time.”

In the past, Portman has dove deep to take on roles such as her critically acclaimed Black Swan performance, where she lost 20 pounds to play a ballerina, and for Thor: Love and Thunder where she spent 10 months training her physical endurance to better swing a hammer.

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Portman's stance against Method acting is a departure from her May December character. The star plays Elizabeth Berry, an actress who shadows Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore), for an upcoming movie role focusing on the latter seducing a 13-year-old when she was 36 and marrying him when he becomes an adult. To learn more about Gracie's motivations, Elizabeth goes to extreme lengths to understand her.

May December also stars Charles Melton, who plays an adult Joe Yoo, the 13-year-old who was seduced by Gracie and went on to marry her when he was older.

The story is Netflix's fictionalized take on the real-life story of Mary Kay Letourneau, a Seattle teacher who sexually abused her sixth-grade student, Vili Fualaau, in 1996. After multiple prison stints, Letourneau ended up marrying Fualaau.

May December is available to stream on Netflix.