Reading - wider world 2 - unit 8

Read the text below about Natalie Portman. Decide if the sentences are True, False, or Doesn’t say. 

Becoming Famous by Accident

Most film stars become famous by working hard and being talented, but some stars are luckier than others!

Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, Natalie Portman moved to the eastern United States when she was three. She was just another 11-year-old girl enjoying pizza at a restaurant when someone who worked for a make-up company saw her and said she would make a really good make-up model. Portman told him that she wanted to act, not do modelling. 

1 Natalie Portman wasn’t born in America. 

Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, Natalie Portman moved to the eastern United States when she was three. She was just another 11-year-old girl enjoying pizza at a restaurant when someone who worked for a make-up company saw her and said she would make a really good make-up model. Portman told him that she wanted to act, not do modelling.

The experience gave her confidence and she immediately started studying dance and acting in New York. 

2 Portman was 11 when she started learning how to act.

Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, Natalie Portman moved to the eastern United States when she was three. She was just another 11-year-old girl enjoying pizza at a restaurant when someone who worked for a make-up company saw her and said she would make a really good make-up model. Portman told him that she wanted to act, not do modelling. 

3 Portman wanted to become a model. 

The experience gave her confidence and she immediately started studying dance and acting in New York. Two years later, she starred in her first big film, the 1994 feature, Leon: The Professional. The following year, Portman had another major role, playing Al Pacino’s daughter in Heat. She is now most famous for playing Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars films.

4 Natalie loved dancing as much as acting.

She was just another 11-year-old girl enjoying pizza at a restaurant when someone who worked for a make-up company saw her and said she would make a really good make-up model. Portman told him that she wanted to act, not do modelling.

The experience gave her confidence and she immediately started studying dance and acting in New York. Two years later, she starred in her first big film, the 1994 feature, Leon: The Professional. The following year, Portman had another major role, playing Al Pacino’s daughter in Heat. 

5 She was 15 when she made her first film. 

She is now most famous for playing Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars films. She made the first of them, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, in 1997–8, when she was still at secondary school. After leaving school, Portman enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology, but wanted to continue working as an actress. She completed her university degree in 2003. During her studies she starred in a second Star Wars film. She went on to make a large number of major movies and she is still a popular actress today. It’s amazing what can happen when you go for a pizza!

6 Portman starred in four Star Wars films. 

She is now most famous for playing Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars films. She made the first of them, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, in 1997–8, when she was still at secondary school. After leaving school, Portman enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology, but wanted to continue working as an actress. She completed her university degree in 2003. During her studies she starred in a second Star Wars film. She went on to make a large number of major movies and she is still a popular actress today. It’s amazing what can happen when you go for a pizza!

7 Natalie stopped acting to go to university.