‘Black Swan’ star Natalie Portman believes that acting and psychology are ‘very similar’. The Hollywood actor took a break from her career to pursue a degree in psychology from Harvard University.
She thinks that it helped her work because doing both successfully involves being ‘observant’, reported ‘Female First UK’.
Asked if her degree has been useful in her work, she told ‘Radio Times’ magazine, “I think it’s very similar. In acting, you’re trying to imagine why people do the things they do and what forms them. Psychology is very much the same practice. The first thing they teach is observing. It’s like watching people, noticing patterns and behaviour.”
As per ‘Female First UK’, in ‘May December’, Natalie plays Elizabeth, an actress preparing to play a real-life figure and she admitted that playing someone based on a real person can feel ‘vampiric’, even when she is trying to be empathetic.
“That’s a classic trope of literature and theatre. You read Chekhov and he’s questioning whether storytelling is stealing from people’s lives. I think every artist, with a heart and soul, questions themselves,” she said.
She added, “Am I stealing from real people to feed my art, like a vampire? It can be vampiric, but I think you can approach it in a way that’s more generous and more about empathy and trying to imagine someone’s life, as opposed to trying to steal someone’s life.”
The 42-year-old actor made her movie debut in ‘Leon’ when she was 12 and had her first Broadway role four years later in ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ and she enjoys working on stage and screen in different ways.
“They’re both different in their own ways. It’s pottery and painting. I had an amazing experience with ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’. It really changed my whole life and changed me as a person. But the film is also satisfying to work in. You reach wider audiences,” she shared.