Natalie Portman, Michael and Israeli Paparazzi

Glamour Magazine writer Laurie Sandell recently interviewed Natalie Portman for the November issue’s cover story. The interview took place at our fave all night coffee and free WiFi NY joint, the Yaffa Cafe. Portman talked a bit about what it’s like being a student at Hebrew U. I decided to post this because Michael has just started school there and he too is having a difficult time. Granted, being a world famous actress and being occasionally hounded by Israeli paparazzi is a far more trying experience than being a Hurricane Katrina refujew, having your luggage lost, spending days with nary a change of clothing while sleeping on a sofa and being dependent upon the kindness of strangers AND twisting your ankle today. But whatever, you know what a whiny little bitch Michael can be. Here are the Israel related parts of the interview. The November issue of Glamour is available on newstands now!

GLAMOUR: Youve done more than 15 movies and two major plays, and now you have two films in production, yet you found time to return to Israel last year to study at Hebrew University … What prompted you to do that?

NATALIE PORTMAN: Right after I graduated college, I immediately did Star Wars and Closer. But after that I couldn’t find a project that interested me, so I ended up not working for six months and started going crazy. I decided to apply to Hebrew University two weeks before the semester began. Living in Israel as an adult is something I’ve always wanted to do.

GLAMOUR: Did you have to deal with the paparazzi there following you to school and all over?

NP: It’s worse than it is in the [the States]. The same photographers who cover bus bombings moonlight as paparazzi. If there’s a terrorist attack, they’ll photograph that, and if there’s a celebrity walking down the street, they’ll shoot that. [Recently] I was flipping through an Israeli tabloid and thought, who are these celebrities in the pictures? Who cares? Then I thought, who are the people I read about, and why do I care about them?

That’s an awfully good question Natalie. Why do we care? Is it because you’re hot and Jewish and at Jewlicious we have a thing for uh… anything that is both hot and Jewish?

Natalie Portman can be seen in Amos Gitai’s crappy film Free Zone which she filmed while at Hebrew U., V for Vendetta which is in post production and for which she shaved her head and Goya’s Ghosts, which is currently being filmed.