The ingenuity of Natalie Portman lies in her ability to be a tortured and psychologically haunted artist in Black Swan, hold devastating and quiet grief in Jackie, become the embodiment of innocence and darkness in Léon: The Professional, and bring an unmistakable terror and poignancy to V For Vendetta. But throughout her diverse and exquisite career, the Oscar-winning actress has never been so impressed as when she crossed paths with the late director Mike Nichols while working together on Closer.

Closer (2004)

Also read: Natalie Portman’s Top Five Roles

Natalie Portman’s Effusive Compliments For Mike Nichols

If there was ever a person who Natalie Portman has been repeatedly effusive about, it was the late director Mike Nichols. The Academy Award-winning filmmaker has had an extensive career to speak to his talents but it is not in his directorial skills or masterful eye for telling a story through a lens that captures Portman’s undivided and most loyal attention. To her, it was the experience of sharing a space and feeling, perhaps for the first time in her career in the spotlight, that she was truly safe.

Natalie Portman in Closer

In Closer, Mike Nichols inadvertently solidified a budding impression of greatness in Natalie Portman’s mind regarding himself by being “the only older man who mentored me without there ever being a creepy element in it.” The film which required the actress to play a strong-willed stripper also comprised a scripted scene that was revealing. The director, according to Portman, assessed and changed the material to accommodate the authenticity of the scene without having the actress feel uncomfortable, unsafe, or exploited in any manner.
“I think he was a genuine feminist. There was nothing, nothing, nothing there except him seeing you as a creative, interesting, talented human. It is the rarest, finest quality, and not many directors of his generation had it.”
In the book, Mike Nichols: A Life, author Mark Harris revealed – “At her request, he was happy to eliminate some of the nudity” and “made sure she was comfortable with the angles, the costumes, and the movement” before proceeding with the scene. “What he did for me… Lord, may I have the ability to offer that kind of mentorship and guidance to one other person,” Portman later claimed of Nichols.

Natalie Portman Pays Tribute To Late Director Mike Nichols

Mike Nichols on set with Natalie Portman and Jude Law
In an article in New York Magazine upon his death, the actress conveyed in a few words what seemed to encapsulate the core identity of his life:
“I think people as intelligent as him are often blighted with sadness, but he really was so content. I don’t know anyone else like that — to be the smartest person that ever was and also be so happy.”
Smart, intelligent, happy, and content seemed to define Nichols’ personality on and off the sets and to find that particular variation of qualities in a man seemed to Portman like a golden needle in a 100-acre land filled with haystack. And with the expanse of time and exposure that the Black Swan actress has faced throughout the years since her unforgettable debut in Léon, it comes off as high praise to hear her say there has never been another like him.

Closer is available for streaming on Netflix.

Source: Mike Nichols: A Life [via IndieWire]