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Zach Braff and Natalie Portman in "Garden State"
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Zach Braff Natalie Portman Garden State

Zach Braff and Natalie Portman in "Garden State"
Photo © Fox Searchlight

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Natalie Portman Talks About "Garden State"

Your Guide, Rebecca MurrayFrom Rebecca Murray,
Your Guide to Hollywood Movies.
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Ever since “Beautiful Girls” I’ve been a fan of Natalie Portman, though I have to admit I’m not a big “Star Wars” supporter. I actually liked the older ones with Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher but the new ones don’t really do anything for me. But my dissatisfaction with the new “Star Wars” films has nothing to do with Portman. She’s a solid actress even when the material supporting her isn’t that great.

With “Garden State,” Portman is provided with strong material and the chance to stretch her comedy legs. Alongside writer/director/actor Zach Braff and Peter Sarsgaard, Portman’s enchanting in this critically acclaimed, emotionally moving story of family, friends, and love.

INTERVIEW WITH NATALIE PORTMAN:

How did this project come to you?
I got the script from my agency and I read it. I can already tell when I’m reading a script if I start saying the lines while I’m reading it, that it’s something I’m really excited to do because I can’t even wait ‘til the second round to start hearing what it sounds like. So it was very exciting and really fun to see a character that was so uninhibited in allowing herself to be as kooky as she felt.

Is the character like you?
I don't think so. Well, I definitely have a sort of silly, kooky side to myself and you always take a part of yourself for the character. But obviously, I mean, it’s a character. She’s a girl working [at] a sort of boring job in New Jersey, coming up against a disease that she’s had since she was little and the disappointment of that and what it did to her hopes. And, you know, she’s obviously had a very different life experience than I do.

Was she based on anyone you knew?
The script was pretty specific in terms of how I envisioned the character. But yeah, I pick up little quirks from people. I’m one of those people who, like if I’m around someone who has a distinctive way of talking, I start talking like them, following their speech pattern. So I definitely pick up things from people all around.

How were you comfortable acting crazy?
It took a lot of letting go, I guess, because I’m someone who’s a little more inhibited and a little more reserved. But it was fun because I could always blame it on the character, so I got to experiment with myself and say it was just character quirks.

Do you like doing comedy?
It was really fun. I think people always think I’m so serious but I’m pretty into laughing and having a good time. My favorite kinds of movies to watch are comedies and fun movies, entertaining movies. So it was fun to get to play around, and Zach created this atmosphere where we’re all just joking around all the time. We were all focused and excited to be working on this film, but we would joke around between takes and then we would role and it was just sort of the same energy of a group of friends hanging out.

What was harder, the funny moments or the emotional ones?
You know, they’re all sort of…if they feel true to me, it’s not that hard. I think you can always tell, like for me, I can always tell the lines that I’m uncomfortable saying because I sort of mumble them. But if it feels true, I think it’s always relatively easy to play. I try not to do things or if there’s something that I like and has moments that don’t feel true or I think would be hard for me to get, that’s when I start talking to a writer or director and saying, “I like this, but this part doesn’t really make sense to me.” People are usually receptive to that.

How different is it acting opposite your director?
He balanced it so well. I mean, he was really so fluid wearing all these hats. He was going in and out of being writer, director, actor really, really quite fluidly. And it was really impressive because he did it with a real ease. He wasn’t stressed out after every scene, like a stressed out control freak. He really was able to just be so relaxed and confident about it that we always knew who the leader was, but he sort of made it a collaborative feeling so we knew we were creating right along with him.

You’re so expressive in this movie. Do you train specifically with facial expressions?
I sort of do that a lot and I, actually every time I watch myself, I’m like, “Oh no, I’m doing too much. I need to tone that down a little bit.”

What was the funniest moment on the set?
The dog humping scene. The dog had like a two part cue for the humping. So the mounting cue [was], “Love him up.” So the trainer goes, “Ike, love him up, love him up.” So he mounts. And then the gyration one was, “Who’s your bitch?” We were all just losing it and Zach’s like getting raped by this dog. It was the funniest thing.

Page 2: The "Garden State" Set, Smaller Films, and "Star Wars"


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