Happy Birthday to Natalie Portman who plays Padme Amidala in the Star Wars prequels.
Fact Sheet from E! Online
Birth Name: Natalie Hershlag
Birthdate: June 9, 1981
Birthplace: Jerusalem, Israel
Occupations: Actor, Model
Quote: "I'm going to college. I don't care if it ruins my career. I'd rather be smart than a movie star." --USA Today, November 1994
Claim to Fame: Breakthrough performance as 12-year-old assassin apprentice Mathilde opposite Jean Reno in The Professional (1994)
Factoids:
Discovered by a modeling agent in a New York pizza parlor at age 11
Plays the young Queen Amidala in George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace (1999) and upcoming installments
Education:
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts; majoring in Psychology
Syosset High School, Syosset, New York
