Natalie Portman does not encourage children to enter showbiz: 'It was almost an accident of luck that I was not harmed'
Actress Natalie Portman has a piece of advice for kids who are willing to enter the entertainment industry. She said she would "not encourage" young people to enter the glam world, reported People.
During an episode of Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast, the Oscar winner, 42, told the outlet that it was "an accident of luck" that she was not harmed as a young actress, adding that she would not advise kids to enter the industry.
"I would not encourage young people to go into this," Portman, who shares two children—son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, 6—with husband Benjamin Millepied, told Variety, before clarifying: "I don't mean ever; I mean as children."
"I feel it was almost an accident of luck that I was not harmed, also combined with very overprotective, wonderful parents," she added.
Portman, who made debut with Leon: The Professional at the age of 13 told Variety, "You don't like it when you're a kid, and you're grateful for it when you're an adult."
"I've heard too many bad stories to think that any children should be part of it," she spoke about the kids in the entertainment industry. "Having said that, I know all the conversations that we've been having these past few years. It's made people more aware and careful."
"But ultimately, I don't believe that kids should work," she said. "I think kids should play and go to school."
Portman commented on her appearance in Leon: The Professional in May, telling The Hollywood Reporter that she has "complicated" sentiments regarding her breakout 1994 film. (Its director, Luc Besson, has since been charged and cleared by many women of sexual assault.)
Oscar winner featured as Mathilda, a young girl who forms a mentor-mentee connection with a hitman (Jean Reno) after her family is slain in the thriller Leon.
When questioned about the picture, Portman told THR, "It's a movie that's still beloved, and people come up to me about it more than almost anything I've ever made."
"And it gave me my career," she continued. "But it is definitely, when you watch it now, it definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it."
"So, yes, it's complicated for me," she added, reported People.
