Natalie Portman has never published an IQ score; figures around 140 online have no source. What she does have is rarer for a film star: a peer-reviewed publication record.
Neta-Lee Hershlag's passport
Born in Jerusalem on 9 June 1981 to an Israeli fertility doctor, Avner Hershlag, and an American artist, Shelley Stevens, who became her agent. “Portman” is her paternal grandmother's maiden name, taken for her career to protect her family's privacy.
Born Neta-Lee Hershlag, an only child. Spoke Hebrew first.
The family moved to the US when she was three, for her father's medical training.
A move for her father's work; she took dance classes from age four.
Settled in Syosset, New York. At ten a modelling agent spotted her in a pizza parlour; she chose acting instead and was cast in Léon.
Education, from the course catalogue
She said she'd rather be smart than a movie star, and scheduled films around exams.
Straight-A student at a Long Island public school, filming Star Wars in the gaps between terms.
Chose Harvard over acting full-time; took a year-long break from films to focus on her degree.
Worked on infant cognition research that led to her NeuroImage paper.
Graduate-level courses in Jerusalem after graduating.
One person, two records
Search for her by one name and you get a filmography. Search the other and you get a lab. Switch names to see each record.
High-school paper on a simple method to demonstrate enzymatic production of hydrogen from sugar; made her an Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist.
Co-authored in NeuroImage with researchers at Harvard, using near-infrared spectroscopy to study babies' brains.
Graduated after four years of classes, working as a research assistant in a psychology lab.
Took graduate courses in Jerusalem after Harvard.
Addressed graduates about insecurity and feeling she didn't belong at Harvard.
Key films, frame by frame
Played Al Pacino's troubled stepdaughter in Michael Mann's crime epic.
Breakthrough supporting role as a precocious 13-year-old.
Padmé Amidala across three films.
Co-starred in Zach Braff's indie hit.
Shaved her head on camera for the role of Evey.
A ballerina unravelling before opening night.
Astrophysicist Jane Foster in the Marvel series.
Jacqueline Kennedy in the days after the assassination.
A biologist leading an expedition into “the Shimmer”.
An actress researching a real-life scandal, opposite Julianne Moore.
Sources
- Baird, A. A., Kagan, J., Gaudette, T., Walz, K. A., Hershlag, N. & Boas, D. A. (2002). Frontal lobe activation during object permanence. NeuroImage 16(4)
- Intel Science Talent Search records (1998)
- Portman, N. Harvard Commencement address (2015)
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards database
- What's Your IQ editorial review of circulated figures