Natalie Portman says she was sexualized as a child star: 'That was not my doing'

Natalie Portman has been in the public eye since she became a teenager and the actress, now 37, is speaking out about the inappropriate ways society treats young celebrities.

"I know I was sexualized in the ways that I was photographed or portrayed, and that was not my doing,” she recently told People of the early days of her acting career. “That becomes a part of your public identity.”

Portman's first acting credit, "Leon," released in 1994, when Portman was just 13. 

The actress, who is currently starring in “Vox Lux,” previously opened up about receiving a particularly inappropriate piece of fan mail as a young teenager.

“I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort,” she said at the Women's March last January. “I felt the need to cover my body and to inhibit my expression and my work in order to send my own message to the world that I’m someone worth of safety and respect.”

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Earlier this month, Portman made headlines after a USA TODAY interview in which she discussed growing up in an over-sexualized culture.

“I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying ‘I’m a virgin’ while wearing a bikini, and I was confused. Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl,” she said.

Simpson later responded: "As public figures, we both know our image is not totally in our control at all times, and that the industry we work in often tries to define us and box us in. However, I was taught to be myself and honor the different ways all women express themselves, which is why I believed then – and I believe now – that being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body are not synonymous with having sex."

In an Instagram comment, Portman clarified her statement: 

"Thank you for your words. I completely agree with you that a woman should be allowed to dress however she likes and behave however she likes and not be judged."

She continued: "I only meant to say I was confused – as a girl coming of age in the public eye around the same time – by the media's mixed messaged about how girls and women were supposed to behave. I didn't mean to shame you and I'm sorry for any hurt my words may have caused. I have nothing but respect for your talent and your voice that you use to encourage and empower women all over the globe."

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