Break out the birthday cake as the Israeli-born award winning actress Natalie Portman turns 30 today.
Portman made her break into the film industry in 1994 in the French movie Leon: The Professional . Natalie, then only 13 years old, took on the role of Matilda, an orphan girl who befriends a middle-aged hitman.
From there, she had roles in the films Heat, Mars Attacks! , and even played Anne Frank in a Broadway adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank .
It was in the late 90’s however, that the now-Harvard educated star’s popularity erupted when she played Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy’s first film, The Phantom Menace .
The Star Wars beauty has recently been buzzing in the media because of her open stance on gay marriage . Recently Portman and her fiance Benjamin Millepied joined the ranks of over 100,000 people when they signed the Freedom to Marry’s Say, “I Do” letter to President Barack Obama, a document asking for marriage equality for gay couples.
In honor of Portman’s birthday, we decided to hunt down a clip showing the brainy superstar in her film career debut, The Professional .
