<p>Hollywood actress Natalie Portman has opened up on how she guarded herself while feeling sexualized as a young star in Hollywood.</p>
<p>The Oscar-winning actress, 43, made her big screen debut in the R-rated 1994 film &lsquo;Leon: The Professional&rsquo;, which she began filming when she was 12 years old, reports &lsquo;People&rsquo; magazine.</p>
<p>Portman, who has previously been open about navigating her teen years in the industry, spoke to Jenna Ortega about it in a new &lsquo;Interview&rsquo; magazine conversation.</p>
<p>She said, "I think there&rsquo;s a public understanding of me that&rsquo;s different from who I am. I&rsquo;ve talked about it a little before, about how, as a kid, I was really sexualized, which I think happens to a lot of young girls who are onscreen. I felt very scared by it. Obviously sexuality is a huge part of being a kid, but I wanted it to be inside of me, not directed towards me&rdquo;.</p>
<p>As per &lsquo;People&rsquo;, the &lsquo;Fountain of Youth&rsquo; actress Portman, who stars opposite Ortega, 22, in the upcoming movie &lsquo;The Gallerist&rsquo;, said her "way of protecting myself" at the time was to portray herself as "so serious. I&rsquo;m so studious. I&rsquo;m smart, and that&rsquo;s not the kind of girl you attack&rdquo;.</p>
<p>"I was like, if I create this image of myself, I&rsquo;ll be left alone&rdquo;, she said. "It shouldn&rsquo;t be a thing, but it worked&rdquo;.</p>
<p>Ortega, who's also been acting from a young age, told Portman she feels a "kinship" with other former child actors, "As soon as someone mentions that they were a young actor, you start to look at them differently&rdquo;.</p>
<p>The &lsquo;Wednesday&rsquo; star also said during the Interview discussion that "there&rsquo;s something really, really heartwarming but also simultaneously devastating anytime I speak to actresses from previous generations, just because their experience is so jarringly different&rdquo;.</p>
<p>She added, "It&rsquo;s nice to see how much it&rsquo;s changed because I&rsquo;ve been very fortunate in my upbringing, in our line of work&rdquo;.</p>
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Hollywood actress Natalie Portman has opened up on how she guarded herself while feeling sexualized as a young star in Hollywood

'I was really sexualized': Natalie Portman on what she endured as child star

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'I was really sexualized': Natalie Portman on what she endured as child star

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