The Natalie Portman Mike Nichols connection was based on trust and communication. Portman is paying a vibrant homage to the man who always knew how to be there for her.
The Natalie Portman Mike Nichols bond was very strong. It comes as no surprise that the brilliant actress is publicly mourning the death of her friend and mentor. Nichols died suddenly on Wednesday of a heart attack at age 83.
His movies like 1968’s The Graduate have left a lasting impression in popular culture and he was a mentor to a lot of Hollywood talents. Whoopi Goldberg was brought to tears on The View as she was talking about the impact he had on her life. It seems that Nichols played a similar role in Portman’s career.
Natalie Portman and Mike Nichols first linked in 2001 for Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, a production that was held at New York City’s Public Theater. Portman was only 20.
Portman and Nichols collaborated again in 2004, this time for the movie Closer, a role that earned Benjamin Millepied‘s wife, an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Working with the legendary director was a life-changing experience for Portman. In a statement issued Thursday, the 33-year-old actress said:
“There’s nothing good enough I can write that would do Mike justice. He was the one who had the best words, the right hug for hard times, the funny comment to diffuse your pain. He saved me again and again. He was the best way to be a person and an artist. And the most, most fun. I send my deepest love to Diane, Jenny, Max, Daisy and their children, who filled his days with light.”
Closer is interesting in the sense that it contained one of the first sexually charged scenes done by Portman. The V for Vendetta star even shot a nude and controversial scene at a strip club that Nichols opted not to use for the film.
Nichols’ decision to delete the segment, marked Portman. She explained:
“Well, back to the trust issue, when you trust someone, you’re willing to do everything and make mistakes and really expose yourself inside out. So we made sort of a pact that before While we would shoot, we would just do everything and then he cut it the way he cut, showed it to me [to] see if I agreed, and that’s what happened. We both kept our parts of the deal.”
Portman later added that the Closer deleted scenes were not essential to the story. Nichols also had a great amount of respect and admiration for Portman. In a 2007 interview with The Guardian, he stated:
“It confuses people to think that someone so completely beautiful could be a first-rate actor, too. It’s hard to grasp, but it’s happened. It’s happened a few times before, with Garbo and Louise Brooks.”
Nichols leaves behind his wife of 26 years, Diane Sawyer, and three children.
What are your thoughts on the Natalie Portman Mike Nichols bond?
