Natalie Portman tells Harvard graduates: 'Make your inexperience an asset'
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Version 0 of 1. Natalie Portman has advised graduating Harvard seniors to use their inexperience to their advantage, saying she has learned that taking calculated risks can lead to life-changing rewards. The Academy Award winner, speaking at Harvard College’s class day, cited her work in Black Swan as an example of a time she did not know her own limitations and it paid off. Portman, who won an Oscar for best actress in the 2010 film, said she might not have taken the role had she known how “woefully unprepared” she was to pull off the movie’s ballet moves. “The point is, if I had known my own limitations I never would have taken the risk,” she said. “And the risk led to one of my greatest personal and professional achievements.” The 33-year-old met her husband, the choreographer Benjamin Millepied, on the set of the movie. Portman, who graduated from Harvard in 2003, cited another personal example: her first experience writing, directing and acting in a movie. The film, A Tale of Love and Darkness, premiered at the Cannes film festival. “Make use of the fact that you don’t doubt yourself too much right now because, as we get older, we get more realistic,” she told the graduating seniors. “Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset.” Portman’s address was a highlight of Wednesday’s events, which also included award presentations and student speeches. Harvard seniors receive their diplomas on Thursday. Harvard’s tradition of inviting a guest speaker to address graduates the day before commencement began in 1968. The first invited guest was the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. His wife, Coretta Scott King, delivered the speech after his assassination. In 2014 the Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg delivered the address. |