Back in January, Rihanna showed up at the Dior show in Paris and the other celebrities who were there fangirled all over her. That includes Glenn Close and also Natalie Portman.
Because, of course, Rihanna is a celebrity among celebrities. There aren’t too many of them. Rihanna, Beyoncé, Oprah, it’s a short list, maybe I’m missing a name or two, but you get it, right? Natalie Portman has been famous since she was a teenager. She’s an Oscar winner. She’s a member of the MCU and the Star Wars Universe. She’s Luke and Leia’s mother, ffs.
And yet in the presence of Rihanna, she’s pretty much one of us.
Last night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she wasn’t downplaying that either. Jimmy asked her about that moment, about meeting Rihanna, and what it meant to her. And she got pretty personal, talking about how she was going through her divorce at the time and so to have the one and only BadGalRiRi tell her she’s a bad bitch herself, it sounds like it was therapy for her:
Natalie Portman is an entertainer. She knows when to turn it on and, no doubt, she definitely dialed it up here for late night. But there’s emotion behind it, too. You can tell at the end of the clip, she’s kinda feigning at being overcome, and yet there’s truth in the performance – which, as corny as it sounds, every actor will tell you is what they’re searching for in a scene: truth. Seriously, go back to where I just embedded the original video, Natalie’s making the “I can’t believe this is happening to me” face. It’s like Rihanna healed a small part of Natalie Portman that day. This is her super power!
Also attached - Natalie arriving at The View in New York.
