Funny or Die is a comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions with original and user-generated content. Funny or Die contains exclusive material from a number of famous contributors (e.g. Judd Apatow, James Franco) and also has its own Funny or Die Team, which creates original material for the site. Many clips on the site feature well-known actors (examples include Charlie Sheen, Ryan Gosling, Patrick Stewart, Daniel Radcliffe, Lindsay Lohan and Jerry Seinfeld). Michael Kvamme, an aspiring young comedian, came up with a concept for a new kind of comedy site and the site was developed by Randy Adams. Videos are voted on by users of the site; those that are deemed funny stay, but those that are not "die" and are relegated to the site's "crypt". The title is a reference to the well known political cartoon, Join, or Die.

The site's first video, "The Landlord," has received over 70 million views and features Ferrell confronted by a swearing, beer-drinking two-year-old landlord.^[1] In June 2007, they received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital,^[2] and in June 2008, they announced a partnership with HBO.^[3]

Voting System[link]

Unlike other viral video sites, members of Funny or Die are encouraged to vote on videos which they view, with the options of "Funny" or "Die". The video then gets a score of the total percent of people who voted the video "Funny". If the video receives an 80% or greater "Funny" rating after 100,000 views, it gets an "Immortal" ranking. If the video receives a 20% or less "Funny" rating after 1,000 views, it is relegated to the Crypt section of the site.

The Funny or Die staff can also select a rating of "Chosen One", which hides the score from the public, merely saying "Chosen One" instead.

Popular Contributors[link]

Aside from celebrity contributors such as Thomas Lennon, Demetri Martin and more, Funny or Die has a permanent stable of writers including Dan Abramson, Look what I found, Cory Matthews, Dashiell Driscoll, You're doing it right, Lauren and A General Nonchalance. Popular user contributors include Mikepattonfan (Sean Warhurst), Joe Burton, Mpiddy, Michael Lake and more.^[4]

Funny or Die Comedy Tour[link]

In February 2008, Funny or Die launched "Will Ferrell’s Funny or Die Comedy Tour Presented by ‘Semi-Pro’", in conjunction with the promotion of the movie Semi Pro. The tour featured Ferrell, members of the FOD Team and comedians Zach Galifianakis, Demetri Martin, Nick Swardson and Andrea Savage. Adam McKay and Will Arnett served as tour announcers. The eight-city tour hit college campuses in Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, North Carolina and New York.

Funny or Die Presents[link]

In June 2008, HBO and Funny or Die announced that HBO had purchased a stake of less than 10% in Funny Or Die. With this, Funny or Die will be responsible for developing at least 10 half-hour episodes for HBO, and the companies may organize future comedy tours together. Regarding the agreement, Will Ferrell said, "I don't want to overstate the importance of this deal, but this is the missing link moment where TV and Internet finally merge. It will change the way we as human beings perceive and interact with reality. Okay, I overstated it. But it is an exciting deal."^[5]

In August 2008, FunnyorDie hired Andrew Steele, a twelve year veteran of Saturday Night Live, and one of three head writers in recent years, to oversee content production and development for the site and for the HBO partnership.^[6]

Or Die Networks[link]

Following the success of FunnyorDie, parent organization Or Die Networks^[7] has spun out three additional verticals, based on FunnyorDie’s binary voting system.

Funny or Die UK[link]

Funny or Die UK, launched on September 23, 2008, was a UK specific version of Funny or Die.^[8] The patrons of the site were Little Britain stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams, in place of Will Ferrell.^[9] The site worked in much the same way as the U.S. site, but featured a number of UK comedians, including Peter Serafinowicz, Kevin Eldon, Brendon Burns, Matt Berry and Dom Joly. Or Die Networks and UK partners Hatrick Productions chose to close the dedicated UK website due to financial struggles. The UK contents were consolidated in the main site and today the funnyordie.co.uk domain redirects to funnyordie.com.^[10]

ShredorDie.com[link]

Shredordie.com, launched October 23, 2007,^[11] is an action-sports website OrDie Networks created in partnership with Tony Hawk. Users rate videos of members performing (or failing to perform) stunts by clicking either "Shred" or "Die." Shredordie.com was prominently featured in Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huckjam Tour.

PwnorDie.com[link]

Pwnordie.com, launched July 1, 2008,^[12] is a site devoted to all things video game, where users can post and enjoy videos about walkthroughs, cheats, reviews, or parodies of popular games. Users vote content either "Pwn" or "Die."

MorradeRir.com.br[link]

Morraderir.com.br, launched July 28, 2008, and brings to Brazil the same home for comedy as FunnyorDie.com in the US. Users can view professional and user-generated content unique to Brazil and also from FunnyorDie.com, and upload their own videos as well. The site features celebrity content from Ivete Sangalo, Sabrina Sato, Diogo Portugal, Fernando Caruso, Luis Miranda and others.

EatDrinkorDie.com[link]

Eatdrinkordie.com, launched August 20, 2008,^[13] is a culinary site where users vote videos on preparing and enjoying food as either "delicious" or "die." Tom Colicchio is one of EatDrinkorDie’s primary content partners, and the site has also featured content by Art Smith, Gary Vaynerchuk, Michael Chiarello, Jon Shook and Vinney Dotolo, and Sophie Uliano. EatDrinkOrDie.com no longer exists, and the website now links to FunnyOrDie.com.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Funny or Die
• Funny or Die UK

Rob Riggle
Riggle in August 2008
Born	Robert Allen Riggle, Jr.[1] (1970-04-21) April 21, 1970 (age 42) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian, U.S. Marine
Years active	1998–present

Robert Allen "Rob" Riggle, Jr. (born April 21, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and United States Marine Corps Reserve officer. He is best known for his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show from 2006–2008, as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2004–2005, and for his comedic roles in films such as The Hangover, The Other Guys, The Lorax, 21 Jump Street, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, and Step Brothers.

Early life[link]

Rob Riggle
Birth name	Robert Allen Riggle, Jr
Nickname	Rob
Born	(1970-04-21)April 21, 1970 Louisville, Kentucky
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps Reserve
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Battles/wars	Kosovo War War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Awards	Combat Action Ribbon
Other work	Actor, comedian

Riggle was born in Louisville, Kentucky and raised in Overland Park, Kansas,^[2][3] where he attended Shawnee Mission South High School. He later graduated from the University of Kansas, in 1992, with a B.A. in Theater and Film, and is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.^[3] He went on to earn a Master of Public Administration degree from Webster University in 1997.

Military career[link]

Riggle is currently a Lieutenant Colonel^[4] in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and served in Liberia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. He is currently a public affairs officer with the New York City Public Affairs unit and is a recipient of the Combat Action Ribbon.^[5] Riggle joined the Marines in 1990 after getting his pilot's license, intending to become a Naval Aviator, but left flight school in order to pursue his comedy career.^[6] He has referred to his military experiences on The Daily Show, often when acting as the show's "Military Analyst", publicly stating he could kill any other member of the show.^[7]

In August 2007, Riggle went to Iraq to report for The Daily Show as well as to entertain the troops under the purview of the USO.^[8]

Comedy career[link]

Comedy partnership with Rob Huebel[link]

He has a long-standing comedic partnership with comedian Rob Huebel with whom he frequently works with at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCBT) and in their former improvisational sketch comedy troupe Respecto Montalban. Perhaps the duo's best known creation was their long running two-man show Kung Fu Grip which they often performed at UCBT and other comedy venues for many years. The show was one of the featured acts in the 2004 HBO Comedy Arts Festival. Around this time they began appearing together in several of Comedy Central and VH1's talking head commentary programs such as Best Week Ever and A2Z. They also appeared in Bravo network's 100 Scariest Movie Moments special in 2004. These appearances got the duo their first mainstream exposure to television viewers. The two were instant fan favorites among regular viewers of the VH1 commentary programs. Riggle, Huebel and most of their fellow castmates from Respecto Montalban also performed regularly in comedic sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The duo's growing popularity landed them an audition on Saturday Night Live in the summer of 2004. They auditioned together, though only Riggle ended up making the cut. After spending one season on SNL from 2004–2005, Riggle soon joined Huebel and many of his other Respecto Montalban castmates in Los Angeles to work on new projects. Soon after, the two landed a holding deal at NBC in early 2006 to develop a new half-hour comedy program for the network, though nothing has come of it since then.

In September 2006, Riggle joined The Daily Show as a regular correspondent. Around the same time Huebel (along with Respecto Montalban member Paul Scheer and stand-up comic Aziz Ansari) started developing Human Giant, a sketch show for MTV. Riggle would often appear in the program's various sketches, as well as in the show's 24-hour live marathon which aired on MTV in May 2007. One of Riggle's most memorable guest appearances was as hired muscle, Ham-Bone, who appeared alongside Aziz Ansari in the season one sketch "Clell Tickle: Indie Marketing Guru". Riggle and Huebel can also be seen performing a sketch together on stage at the UCBT in Doug Benson's documentary Super High Me.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

A featured player during the 2004-2005 season, his first appearance as a cast member was on the show's thirtieth season premiere on October 2, 2004. He has portrayed Larry the Cable Guy, Howard Dean, Rick Sanchez, Mark McGwire, and Toby Keith, and had a one-shot character named Leviticus, a loud, violent street preacher who only appeared on a Weekend Update segment on the Christmas episode hosted by Robert DeNiro (another sketch featuring Leviticus was scheduled to air on the episode hosted by Hilary Swank, but that sketch was cut after dress rehearsal).

Prior to being hired as a cast member, Riggle also appeared in a non-speaking role in the previous season (season 29) in a pre-taped parody of Fear Factor. Riggle played the father of one of the child contestants during the "Breakfast in Bed" challenge in which a child must eat the maggots off a plate of Eggs Benedict or his parents will divorce.

[edit] The Daily Show

In September 2006, he joined the cast of The Daily Show to replace the departing Rob Corddry. Riggle made his debut on The Daily Show on September 20, 2006.

During the 2008 Olympics, Riggle traveled to China to tape sketches for The Daily Show, producing a four-part special feature titled "Rob Riggle: Chasing the Dragon."^[9]

Riggle left The Daily Show on December 10, 2008, in his words "to go fight crime"; however, he appeared at Bonnaroo 2009 - along with John Oliver and Rory Albanese, one of the show's executive producers - in a show entitled An Evening (or Afternoon) with the Daily Show featuring John Oliver, Rob Riggle & Rory Albanese.

On August 3, 2010, Riggle made a surprise cameo on The Daily Show during an interview with Will Ferrell.^[10] While Ferrell and Stewart began discussing Riggle's "lack of talent" and making other disparaging remarks about him, Riggle suddenly walked onto the set to surprise them and asks if they were talking about him. Riggle's intimidating presence appears to make Ferrell and Stewart visibly afraid, continuing the running-joke that Stewart is very afraid of Riggle.

"The Navy SEAL Who Killed Osama Bin Laden"[link]

In May 2011, Riggle appeared in a 2-minute short on funnyordie.com as the U.S. Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden. Riggle plays a humble US Navy Lieutenant (though the insignia on his uniform displays three solid gold bands, indicating the O-5 rank of Commander) who, upon being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, pledges absolute discretion—only to get intoxicated at a local bar and boast unreservedly to a large crowd that he was bin Laden's assailant.

Stand-up comedy[link]

Previously, Riggle's live comedy work was mostly improvisational and sketch based, but beginning in 2006 he wanted to try something different and decided to work on creating a stand-up comedy act. After working on his act around various comedy clubs throughout New York City, he later began touring colleges and other local comedy clubs, often performing in stand-up shows with John Oliver and other writers from The Daily Show. Riggle credits John Oliver for first encouraging him to try stand-up while they shared an office together at The Daily Show.^[11]

Riggle hosted an episode of Comedy Central's stand-up series Live at Gotham on December 4, 2009. He also taped a Comedy Central Presents special that aired on March 5, 2010.

Other work[link]

Riggle played the character of Eddie Reynolds in Blackballed, a 2004 film starring Rob Corddry as the lead character, and featuring almost all of the Respecto Montalban group. Later that year Riggle was one of the "Flab Four" on the Comedy Central mini-series Straight Plan for the Gay Man, a parody of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy that ran for three episodes.

In 2006, Riggle guest-starred as a boat captain named Captain Jack on the "Booze Cruise" episode of The Office, and as an anti-euthanasia activist on Arrested Development. He was also seen as a NASCAR announcer in Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell.

In late 2007, Riggle began appearing as a spokesman in a series of Budweiser commercials. The year 2008 saw Riggle sign a talent holding contract with CBS and CBS Paramount Network TV, which includes a development deal to create and star in a half-hour comedy series.^[12] In addition he gained a supporting role in Step Brothers, in which he plays a rude co-worker of Brennan (Will Ferrell). He had memorable supporting roles in the 2009 films The Hangover and The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. Riggle also had supporting roles in the 2010 comedies Going the Distance, Killers, and The Other Guys.

In 2009, Riggle started a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried. Riggle played the role of Mitch, Jay Mohr's brother from the Marines.

In 2010, Riggle and comedian Paul Scheer wrote and starred together in a series of sketches called "Designated Driver" for the first season of the HBO sketch comedy program Funny or Die Presents. Riggle, Scheer and Rob Huebel wrote and starred in a new series of sketches called "Death Hunt", which appeared on the show's second season in 2011.

For the 2010-2011 NFL football season, Riggle recorded a Monday Night Football introduction and several short comedy bits for the Kansas City Chiefs to be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Riggle played the lead in 2011 CBS sitcom pilot "Home Game", executive produced by Mark Wahlberg.

Riggle is seen in stadium monitors at Qwest Field during Seahawks games encouraging fans to cheer.

Riggle currently appears with a recurring role as "The President of the Navy" in the Adult Swim comedy-action series NTSF:SD:SUV::.

In April 2012, Riggle was announced as the upcoming host of the 2012 ESPY Awards on ESPN. The show will air in July 2012.

Filmography[link]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

• Rob Riggle Official website
• Rob Riggle at Comedy Central's Daily Show
• Rob Riggle at the Internet Movie Database
• 2012 Rob Riggle interview with Jon Niccum

Natalie Portman
Portman at the premiere of Black Swan during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Natalie Hershlag (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג‎) (1981-06-09) June 9, 1981 (age 31) Jerusalem, Israel
Alma mater	Harvard College, A.B. 2003
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Agent	International Creative Management, 8942 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Spouse	Benjamin Millepied (2012–present)
Children	1
Notes [1]

Natalie Hershlag^[2][3] (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג‎; born June 9, 1981), better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but mainstream success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (released in 1999, 2002 and 2005).^[4] In 1999, she enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology while still working as an actress.^[5] She completed her bachelor's degree in 2003.

In 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull.^[4] In 2005, Portman received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for the drama Closer. She won a Constellation Award for Best Female Performance, and a Saturn Award for Best Actress for her starring role in V for Vendetta (2006). She played leading roles in the historical dramas Goya's Ghosts (2006) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). In May 2008, she served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury.^[6] Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival's shorts competition in 2008.^[7] Portman directed a segment of the collective film New York, I Love You.

In 2011, Portman won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, Independent Spirit Awards, and the BAFTA Award for her lead performance as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.

Early life[link]

Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel.^[8][9][10] She is the only child of Shelley (née Stevens), an American homemaker who works as Portman's agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli citizen who is a fertility specialist and gynecologist.^[11][12][13] Portman's maternal ancestors were Jewish immigrants to the United States, from Austria and Russia (her mother's family had changed their surname from "Edelstein" to "Stevens").^[14] Her paternal ancestors were Jews who moved to Israel from Poland and Romania. Her paternal grandfather, whose parents died at Auschwitz, was an economics professor in Israel, and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for British Intelligence during World War II.^[15][16]

Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where her mother was selling tickets. They corresponded after her father returned to Israel, and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training.^[13] Portman, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel,^[17] has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home."^[15]

Portman and her family first lived in Washington, D.C., but relocated to Connecticut in 1988, and then settled on Long Island, New York, in 1990.^{[4][18][19][20]}

Education[link]

In Washington, D.C., Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. Portman learned to speak Hebrew^[21] in addition to English, and attended a Jewish elementary school, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove, New York.^[22] She graduated from Syosset High School in Syosset, Long Island, in 1999.^[23][24][25] Portman skipped the premiere of her film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace so she could study for her high school final exams.^[26]

In 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard College with a A.B. degree in psychology.^{[25][27][28][29]} "I don't care if [college] ruins my career," she told the New York Post. "I'd rather be smart than a movie star."^[30][31] At Harvard, Portman was Alan Dershowitz's research assistant.^[32][33] While attending Harvard, she was a resident of Lowell House^[34] and wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in response to an essay critical of Israeli actions toward Palestinians.^[35]

Portman took graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the spring of 2004.^[36] In March 2006, she was a guest lecturer at a Columbia University course in terrorism and counterterrorism, where she spoke about her film V for Vendetta.^[37]

Portman has professed an interest in foreign languages since childhood and has studied French,^[38] Japanese,^[38] German,^[39] and Arabic.^[40]

As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers that were published in scientific journals. Her 1998 high school paper, "A Simple Method to Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar", co-authored with scientists Ian Hurley and Jonathan Woodward, was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search.^[41] In 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called "Frontal Lobe Activation during Object Permanence: Data from Near-Infrared Spectroscopy" during her psychology studies at Harvard.^[42][43] This publication placed Portman among a very small number of professional actors with a defined Erdős–Bacon number.^[42][44][45]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Portman started dancing lessons at age four^[4] and performed in local troupes. At the age of ten, a Revlon agent asked her to become a child model,^[4][46] but she turned down the offer to focus on acting. In a magazine interview, Portman said that she was "different from the other kids. I was more ambitious, I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid."^[47]

Portman spent her school holidays attending theater camps. When she was ten, she auditioned for the Off-Broadway show Ruthless!, a musical about a girl who is prepared to commit murder to get the lead in a school play. Portman and future pop star Britney Spears were chosen as the understudies for star Laura Bell Bundy.^[36] In 1994, she auditioned for the role of a child who befriends a middle-aged hitman in Luc Besson's film, Léon (aka The Professional). Soon after getting the part, she took her grandmother's maiden name "Portman" as her stage name, in the interest of privacy and to protect her family's identity.^[4][48] Léon opened on November 18, 1994, marking her feature film debut. That same year she appeared in the short film Developing, which aired on television.

1995–99[link]

During the mid-1990s, Portman had roles in the films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls.^[4] She was the first choice to play Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, but producers felt her age wasn't suitable.^[46] In 1997, Portman played the role of Anne Frank in a Broadway adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Also in 1997, Portman was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The first film, The Phantom Menace, began filming in June 1997 and opened in May 1999.^[4][49] Following production on The Phantom Menace, she initially turned down a lead role in the film Anywhere but Here after learning it would involve a sex scene, but director Wayne Wang and actress Susan Sarandon (who played Portman's mother in the film) demanded a rewrite of the script. Portman was shown a new draft, and she decided to accept the role.^[4] The film opened in late 1999, and she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ann August.^[50] Critic Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon called Portman "astonishing" and said that "[u]nlike any number of actresses her age, she's neither too maudlin nor too plucky."^[51] She then signed on to play the lead role of a teenaged mother in Where the Heart Is, which opened in April 2000.

2000–05[link]

Amos Gitai with Hana Laszlo and Natalie Portman on the set of Free Zone, (2005)

After filming Where the Heart Is, Portman moved into the dorms of Harvard University to pursue her bachelor's degree in psychology.^[4] She said in a 1999 interview that, with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she would not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying.^[52] During the summer break from June to September 2000, Portman filmed Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in Sydney, along with additional production in London.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols; she played the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.^[4] The play opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.^[53] That same year, she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the 2001 comedy Zoolander. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.^[4]

In 2004, Portman appeared in the independent movies Garden State and Closer.^[4] Garden State was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Her performance as Alice in Closer earned her a Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[54][55]

The final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, was released on May 19, 2005. The film was the highest grossing domestic film of the year,^[56] and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Also in 2005, Portman filmed Free Zone and director Miloš Forman's Goya's Ghosts. Forman had not seen any of her work but thought she looked like a Goya painting, so he requested a meeting.^[57]

2006–09[link]

Portman at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival (jury member)

Portman hosted Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2006.^[58] In a SNL Digital Short, she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flavor Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on marijuana and cocaine.^[59] The song, titled "Natalie's Rap," was released – alongside other sketches from the show – in 2009 on Incredibad, an album by the Lonely Island.^[60] In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession).

V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak with an English accent, and she famously had her head shaved.^[61]

Portman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance and mentioned that the main character, who recruits Evey to join an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the film "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion".^[62]

Both Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone received limited releases in 2006. Portman starred in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006 and was released in November 2007; she has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie."^[61] In late 2006, Portman filmed The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical drama in which she plays Anne Boleyn; Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson co-starred. She was named one of the hottest women of film and TV by Blender Magazine.^[63]

In 2006, she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie, because "[f]or once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman... but she's not coasting on her looks... She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table."^[64] Portman voiced Bart Simpson's girlfriend Darcy in the episode "Little Big Girl" of The Simpsons' 18th season.^[65]

She appeared in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" from his 2007 album Memory Almost Full, directed by Michel Gondry.^[66] Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short film Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman. In May 2008, Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury,^[6] and in 2009, she starred opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in the drama film Brothers, a remake of the 2004 Danish film of the same name.^[67]

In 2008, Portman at age 27 made her directorial debut at the Venice Film Festival. "Eve", a short movie about a young woman who is dragged along on her grandmother's romantic date, was screened out of competition. Portman said she had always had a fascination with the older generation, and drew inspiration for the character from her own grandmother.^[68]

2010–present[link]

Portman being interviewed at the premiere of No Strings Attached, January 11, 2011

Portman played a veteran ballerina in Darren Aronofsky's 2010 film Black Swan,^[69] a role of which critic Kurt Loder wrote: "Portman gives one of her most compelling performances in this film, which is saying something."^[70] To prepare for the role, she went through five to eight hours of dance training each day for six months and lost 20 pounds.^[71] In 2011, she won both the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress.^[72][73]

After Portman's Oscar win, controversy arose over who performed the bulk of the on-screen dancing in Black Swan.^[74] Sarah Lane, one of Portman's dancing doubles in the film, claimed that Portman performed only about 5 percent of the full-body shots, adding that she was asked by the film’s producers not to speak publicly about it during the Oscar season.^[75] Director Aronofsky defended Portman by issuing a statement insisting that Portman performed 80 percent of the on-screen dancing in the movie.^[75]

Portman's next film was No Strings Attached, for which she was also an executive producer. It was released on January 21, 2011. She then starred in Your Highness, opposite James Franco and Danny McBride, and also played the role of Jane Foster in Kenneth Branagh's superhero film adaptation Thor.^[76] In 2010, Portman dropped out of the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet in the novel adaptation Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but she continues as producer.^[77]

In February 2012, it was reported that she had signed on for two Terrence Malick projects named Knight of Cups and Lawless, both planned for release within two years.^[78]

In April 2012, Portman starred in Paul McCartney's music video, "My Valentine" alongside Johnny Depp.^[79]

Social and political causes[link]

Portman at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, presenting Black Swan

Portman, who is an advocate for animal rights, has been a vegetarian since childhood.^[80] She became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.^[81] She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney," she has said.^[82] In 2007, she launched her own brand of vegan footwear.^[83] During her pregnancy in 2011, Portman went off her vegan diet and returned to vegetarianism.^[84]

In 2007, Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film the documentary Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman christened a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play."^[85] Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids.^[86] She is also a member of the One Voice movement.^[87]

Portman has also supported antipoverty activities. In 2004 and 2005, she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in developing countries.^[88] In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, she discussed microfinance.^[89] Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes," but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff."^[90]

In the "Voices" segment of the April 29, 2007, episode of the ABC Sunday morning program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and children in Third World countries.^[91] In fall 2007, she visited several university campuses, including Harvard, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and Columbia, to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty.^[92]

In 2010, Portman's activist work and popularity with young people earned her a nomination for VH1's Do Something Awards, which is dedicated to honoring individuals who do good.^[93]

Portman is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and in the 2004 presidential race she campaigned for the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry. In the 2008 presidential election, Portman supported Senator Hillary Clinton of New York in the Democratic primaries. She later campaigned for the eventual Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, during the general election.^[94] However, in a 2008 interview, she also said: "I even like John McCain. I disagree with his war stance – which is a really big deal – but I think he's a very moral person."^[95]

Personal life[link]

In 2006, she said that she felt more Jewish in Israel and that she would like to raise her children Jewish: "A priority for me is definitely that I'd like to raise my kids Jewish, but the ultimate thing is to have someone who is a good person and who is a partner."^[96]

After starring in the video for his song "Carmensita", she began a relationship with American folk singer Devendra Banhart,^[97] which ended in September 2008.^[98]

Portman began dating ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied in 2009. The couple met while she was filming Black Swan, for which Millepied was the choreographer.^[99] In December 2010, Portman announced that she was engaged to Millepied and confirmed her pregnancy.^{[100][101][102]} Portman gave birth to their first child, a son named Aleph Portman-Millepied, in 2011.^[103][104] In February 2012, it was confirmed that Portman and Millepied had married in a private ceremony.^[105][106]

Filmography[link]

Portman at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Awards[link]

Portman at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Natalie Portman

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Natalie Portman

• Natalie Portman at the Internet Movie Database
• Natalie Portman at AllRovi
• Natalie Portman at People.com
• Natalie Portman on Charlie Rose
• Natalie Portman collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Natalie Portman collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Works by or about Natalie Portman in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Nina Dobrev
Dobrev at PaleyFest 2010's The Vampire Diaries night at the Saban Theatre in 2010
Born	Nina Constantinova Dobreva[1] (1989-01-09) January 9, 1989 (age 23)[1] Sofia, Bulgaria
Nationality	Bulgarian-Canadian
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	2006–present

Nina Dobrev (born Nina Constantinova Dobreva; January 9, 1989)^[1] is a Bulgarian-born Canadian actress and model. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season. She currently stars as Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW television teen drama, The Vampire Diaries.

Personal life[link]

Dobrev at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival

Nina Dobrev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to Canada at the age of two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She speaks fluent French, English, and Bulgarian. She has an older brother, Alexander; her father is a computer specialist and her mother is an artist.^[1]

Dobrev attended J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes, and competed in rhythmic gymnastic.^[1] Then, she attended and Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough, Ontario and Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in sociology. She left in 2008 to pursue her acting career.^[2]

While working on the show, she began dating her Vampire Diaries co-star Ian Somerhalder.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Modeling jobs led to commercials, which then turned into film auditions. Shortly thereafter, she booked roles in feature films, including Fugitive Pieces, Away from Her, Never Cry Werewolf, and the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She starred in a number of Lifetime original movies. She also was in an MTV movie called The American Mall on CTV. She is currently starring in The CW's drama The Vampire Diaries, playing the dual role of Katherine Pierce, a vampire loved by two human brothers during the American Civil War, and Katherine's doppelgänger Elena Gilbert, a human who is caught between the same two brothers, now vampires, Damon and Stefan Salvatore.^[5]

She also had a minor role in the erotic thriller Chloe, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on March 26, 2010.^[6] The film had enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan's biggest moneymaker ever.^[7]

In April 2011, she was cast as Candace in the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, alongside Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Paul Rudd.^[8] Shooting began in May of that year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and she completed her scenes on June 27, 2011.^[9]

Philanthropy[link]

In September 2011, Dobrev co-hosted We Day alongside Joe Jonas.^[10] We Day is organized by Free the Children. Dobrev also designed a T-Shirt^[11] with Me to We Style, which gives 50% of its profits to Free the Children.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Dobrev at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con.