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Arts & Entertainment

From Duckling to Swan: Syosset's Own Natalie Portman

Portman is the front runner in this year's race for the Best Actress Oscar.

The eve of the Academy Awards is always fun for home viewers rooting for their favorite actors and films.

This year's event, which begins Sunday at 8:30 p.m. (ABC-TV), will hit close to home for members of the Syosset community. That's because homegrown star Natalie Portman vies to be named the first Academy Award winner from .

The 1999 Syosset graduate (who was known to her classmates by her given name, Natalie Hershlag) saw her career take off during her most formative years, when at the age of eleven she was cast in The Professional. Before reaching the age of 18, Portman filmed six more films, including Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. The teenager juggled television appearances, advanced academics and dance classes, and in her junior year even managed a demanding schedule on Broadway as Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank.

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Portman is the front runner in this year’s race for the  thanks to her haunting portrayal of Nina Sayers, an inhibited and increasingly off-balanced ballerina. After having swept wins throughout the awards season (Screen Actors Guild Award, and BAFTA, among others), it looks like Syosset's class of 1999’s named “Most Likely to Win Jeopardy” will do one better.

Syosset Patch reached out to her classmates, teachers, and co-stars for their favorite memories of the precocious teenager:

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 Matt Cohen, class of 1999:

“Natalie was a friend both in school and out. Whether it was in French class, dissecting an animal in Biology lab, or hanging out with friends on a weekend, Natalie was always warm, down-to-earth and friendly. She was a regular and typical high school student - but brilliant. There was never any pretense, even after she made it big. Plus, she always had strong character.”

 Iris Wiener, class of '99:

“I collected $1 from the students in my English class because I wanted to buy our student teacher a going away present. I made an announcement to the class about it, and the very next day Natalie brought in the money and gave it to me. I had to stay on top of everyone else for weeks, but even with Natalie in the middle of making movies and such, she made sure to bring in the $1 and give it to me the very next day.”

 Lori Wilner, co-star in Broadway’s The Diary of Anne Frank:

“Aside from the obvious, she’s a stunning and beautiful girl. She was amazingly self-possessed for a 16-year-old, and was lit from the inside. You knew she was going places. She was very centered. I liked watching her learning curve, it was very filmic. She just understood the meaning of what she was doing. She was quite a pleasure.”

 Christine Akyemeniciyan, class of '99:

“In our junior year, Natalie and I shared a Japanese class. At one point we had a group of foreign exchange students from an all boys school that came to visit from Japan. Natalie was already well known throughout Japan, and you could tell these boys definitely knew who she was. When they came into the class, they sat themselves in all of the seats that surrounded her and kept staring at her. She was really gracious about it, smiling and being friendly, even though she was a bit overwhelmed. She was very humble.”

 Jackson Chan, class of '99:

“I remember how friendly she was to give out homemade chocolate chip cookies to her classmates in Home Economics class at . Four years later, a high school teacher told us that Natalie got a perfect score on the SAT! We really admired her for keeping up her positive attitude and self confidence.”

Madeline Dempster, director of New Hyde Park’s American Theater Dance Workshop:

“I worked with Natalie from the ages of eight years to eleven years. When she was about ten years old she had long, curly, light brown hair, and her mom had told us that she was being tested for a movie. They weren’t quite sure what it was about, but part of it would be filmed in New York, and part in France. That was one week, and then the next week this beautiful child came in, and her hair was cut into this short bob that she wore in The Professional. She looked like this young, little French girl, she was totally transformed by that haircut. Of course, then she left for about a month and filmed The Professional. We were invited to the premiere of the movie when it opened in New York.”

 Cyndi Fredericks, class of '99:

“My favorite memory is from when we were in the ninth grade, and we were in the same Social Studies class. One night she was on Late Show with David Letterman. She was asked about school, and she made a reference to her Social Studies teacher as being a weirdo (or something to that effect). He had told her to read "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, and she explained to Letterman that she didn't think that was age appropriate. The next morning the teacher walked into class, told us that according to national television he was a terrible teacher, sat down at the desk, folded his arms and put his head down. He sat like that for a few minutes, while a rather awkward silence pervaded the room. Natalie profusely apologized - and she really meant it wholeheartedly. It was quite a joke between students and faculty alike!”

Kieren Van Den Blink, co-star in Broadway’s The Diary of Anne Frank, and featured actress in Anywhere But Here:

“We became really close because I played her sister on Broadway. When I booked the role, I didn’t know who she was and hadn’t seen any of her movies. Shortly after I found out she was playing Anne, I was reading an article in Vanity Fair about New Year’s resolutions. Natalie had said hers was ‘to be a good kid.’ I just thought that was so endearing. I just knew I would be friends with her, and we were- immediately. Then when she was filming Anywhere But Here in L.A., she asked me to come out and stay with her at the Chateau Marmont. We had this funny game that we would always play where we would call each other random names. She would say, ‘Ruth, don’t eat too many tomatoes.’ I would say, ‘Sarah Jane, I’m not talking to you.’ ‘Peggy, you shouldn’t do this!’ We did so many female names that we had to go to male names! (Laughs) The director of the film overhead us one day over lunch, and he thought it was hilarious. They were shooting this scene that was supposed to be on the television, so he cast me as the girl on the TV.”

 Chad Lerner, class of '99:

“She always came off as a well-adjusted, normal high-schooler. She was very smart and kind. I remember seeing her hanging in the cafeteria laughing loudly and hanging with her friends. All of her most positive traits have seemed to carry over to her career. She seems to always be pushing a profound message. I think she is a perfect representation of our home town.”

Editor's Note: The author went to high school with Natalie Portman.

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