Natalie Portman Goes Off On Hollywood: ‘Movies Are All About White Men’

Natalie Portman held nothing back in a recent interview with Vulture magazine. The 35-year-old actress totally went off on Hollywood about the lack of substantial roles for women in modern films.

Portman may be starring as one of the most iconic women in American history as Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie, but that didn’t stop her from letting loose about lackluster female roles.

“There are not great female roles that are just flourishing,” she said.

The Oscar winning actress believes that films from back in the ’50s and ’60s had more meaty roles for female characters.

“Even if they’ll make the occasional sexist comment, they still have a central woman character who has a personality … Now I feel like movies are all about white men and then you get a couple that happen to be about women,” Portman said.

Not only did Portman land the esteemed role of Jacqueline Kennedy, but she also will be playing another extremely high-profile female character. In the upcoming biopic On the Basis of Sex, Portman will be portraying a younger Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Portman explained that the project had been put on hold on the production found the right female director. “With the issues of gender discrimination in Hollywood right now, how could we not do that?,” she said.

Although she has garnered international fame for her roles in films like V for Vendetta, Black Swan, and Thor, Portman believes that there is something much more important to her than acting.

“I’d rather be smart than a movie star,” Portman famously said to a reporter.

When Portman attended Harvard between filming the Star Wars movies, her parents insisted upon paying her tuition.

When discussing her pursuit of higher education, she credited her parents with teaching her the value of knowledge.

“It was something they instilled in me, that [acting] was not the biggest, best thing to aspire to, or certainly not the center of the world,” she said. “I think it makes the low points, like when you mess up or get horrible reviews — it just kind of takes all the weight out of it. It’s just a movie.”

Another source of motivation for Natalie Portman has been the presidential election. She was “very upset about the results,” but because of the outcome she is “extremely energized to get more involved.”

What are your thoughts about what Natalie Portman had to say regarding the lack of strong female characters in Hollywood?

[H/T TIME, Vulture]