Natalie Portman Reveals She Never Had Any Female Friends in Hollywood before the Time’s up Movement

Natalie Portman recently revealed that she has never had any female friends in the industry prior to the #MeToo movement. She thanks the #MeToo movement for helping her connect with like-minded women who’ve undergone similar experiences.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Natalie Portman revealed that she didn’t have the opportunity to develop female camaraderie in the industry as she was generally cast alone in movies with not many female co-stars. The Time’s Up and #MeToo movement, fortunately, brought many actresses on the same platform and that’s how Portman was able to connect with many of them.

Creating friendships through affinity groups

“It’s made us come together. We’re actively gathering. Just the power of us getting to know other women in our own industry and sharing information that can help us be safer, more productive, more successful,” she explained. Portman has not been through some of the horrific experiences some of the other actresses have gone through however she’s playing an important role in advocating change. She organizes “affinity groups” where women get together, interact and share their own personal experiences in the industry. By doing so, many actresses just like Portman began connecting with each other which eventually led to developing friendships and a feeling of “sisterhood.”

Through one such “affinity group” Portman got close to Brie Larson, the actress of the 'Captain Marvell' fame. Larson spoke very highly of Portman and described her as a “miraculous problem-solving brain” and a strong force that she’s grateful to collaborate with.

Portman has worked with several leading female stars including Uma Thurman, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino who have been very kind, supportive and inspiring to her, little did she knew about the horrific experiences they had been through.  She said, “It was completely shocking to know that they were going through that.” She revealed that she did hear rumors about Weinstein’s actions however later she learned to whom the abuse happened to and to what degree.

“We’re in a culture where it is regular for men to behave badly and for women to be hurt,” she says, adding that men can be victims, too. “But it is a complete shift because all of us were like, ‘Oh, God, he’s a bad dude,’ and now it’s ‘No, this is abusive behavior—not just a bad dude.’ ”

Making a change

Portman has used her voice at various platforms to talk about sexual terrorism and to create a platform where women can express their needs and wants in a safe and respectful environment.  In the month of October at the Variety’s Power of Women event, she advocated “gender parity” across industries. She listed a set of steps that can be followed such as “Gossip Well” and she advised followers to stop the “rhetoric talk that women are crazy.”

She said “If a man says that a woman is crazy or difficult, ask him ‘What bad thing did you do to her?’” In one of her interviews at the event, Portman also explained that Time’s Up legal defense fund will help those women who are bullied into being silent by individuals in powerful positions.  

“We have to move forward by making this kind of behavior unacceptable,” says the ‘Black Swan’ actress. At a Women’s March event Portman aptly puts her words across when she emphasizes on creating a world where “I could wear whatever I want, say whatever I want and express my desire however I want without fearing for my physical safety or reputation. That would be the world that females desire.”