Natalie Portman Says “Being sexualized as a toddler” made her “anxious”

Natalie Portman tells of the heartbreaking way she was struck by acting roles from her earlier years.

The actress was a guest on the Armchair Expert podcast on Monday, December 7th, where she told the host Dax Shepard Playing sexualized characters early in her career had an insidious influence on her.

Portman, who began acting at the age of 12, discussed her role in the 1996 film Beautiful Girls, in which her 13-year-old character Marty develops a relationship with a man she plays Timothy Hutton. She told Shepard that she knew she was being portrayed as a “Lolita character” Vladimir Nabokov‘s classic 1955 novel about a girl who has a sexual relationship with a much older man.

“Being sexualized as a kid took away my own sexuality because it scared me, and it made me feel like I could be sure, ‘I’m conservative’ and ‘I’m serious and you should respect me” and “I’m smart” and “Don’t look at me like that,” said the Thor star.