How Smart Was Natalie Portman?

[iamchloe]

<p>What were her credentials that got her into Harvard?</p>

[gibby]

<p>[Beauty</a> & Brains: The Most Educated Celebrities - Starpulse.com](<a href=“http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/04/16/the_most_educated_celebrities]Beauty”>http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/04/16/the_most_educated_celebrities)</p>

<p>“Most people revere Natalie Portman as the epitome of beauty, brains and talent. She has, so far, stuck to critically-acclaimed films and seems to be involved in a new form of political-activism every day. It’s no secret that Portman is a brainy beauty. She finished high school with a 4.0 GPA then attended Harvard University where she completed a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Portman even took her education one step further with graduate studies at Hebrew University. Even more, she speaks Hebrew, French and Japanese fluently.”</p>

<p>BTW: <a href=“http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/54354810.html?page=6[/url]”>http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/54354810.html?page=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>"Natalie Portman had “super depressed” moments while attending Harvard University.</p>

<p>The actress graduated from the prestigious college with a degree in Psychology in 2003 but admitted she put on weight and struggled to cope at times during her studies.</p>

<p>She explained to American Vogue: “I gained my freshman fifteen or 20 and had super depressed moments. That Cambridge winter is tough. It was important to know how to go through that and how to get myself out of it. You start learning how to ask your friends or professionals for help, or go to mentors.”</p>

[texaspg]

<p>Apparently not too smart since she hangs with her beau at football games. :p</p>

[Halogen]

<p>Her Erdős number is only one greater than mine; that counts for something!</p>

[JHS]

<p>

Law School Professor Alan M. Dershowitz considered Portman an exceptional student.</p>

<p>“She was in my seminar called Neuropsychology and the Law, and I didn’t know who she was because her name was Natalie Hershlag,” he said, referring to Portman’s birth name. “It was a few weeks into the semester that I learned she was an actress—but she was a terrific student.”</p>

<p>Portman’s paper on new methods of lie detection earned her an A+ from Dershowitz—the highest grade in the class. After that, Dershowitz hired Portman as a research assistant for a book he was writing.</p>

<p>“We talked a lot about her career,” he says. “She said she wanted to do acting, and she wanted at some point to be a psychologist.”</p>

<p>But Dershowitz in no way considers Portman’s divergence from psychology to be disappointing. “It’s all about choice,” he said. “And she has choices and options. She would be a great psychologist, and she’s a great actor. She probably influences more people in her acting.”

</p>

<p>That’s from a Harvard Crimson article after she graduated. (For those of you who don’t know, Dershowitz is quite a famous law professor.)</p>

<p>But “her credentials that got her into Harvard” certainly included her critically praised acting roles in The Professional and Beautiful Girls when she was not even or barely in high school. There is a surprising number of smart actresses who can handle really challenging colleges: In addition to Portman, I can think of Jodie Foster, Jennifer Beals, Angela Bassett, Polly Draper, Mira Sorvino, Reese Witherspoon, Emma Watson, Kate Beckinsale . . . .</p>

[texaspg]

<p>yeah yeah, Alan and the conservatives are on a first name basis. :D</p>

<p>and Brooke Shields.</p>