Playing America’s ultimate first lady

Natalie Portman tells Helen Barlow about her Oscar-tipped role as Jackie Kennedy in the days after JFK was killed.

IN Pablo Larrain’s new movie Jackie, Natalie Portman looks like and sounds like Jackie Kennedy. Yet the 35-year-old actress maintains she hardly resembles the former First Lady. It’s all part of the craft of filmmaking, she says.

“I don’t really think I look that much like her apart from being dark-haired and female. The hair and makeup and wardrobe all do a great deal. It was also an incredible combination of Pablo knowing exactly what he wanted and giving me a huge amount of freedom regarding what I could bring”, admits the actress, who after failing to win a Golden Globe on Sunday (the Hollywood Foreign Press chose Isabelle Huppert for the French film Elle) nevertheless looks set to take her second Oscar after winning for Black Swan.