Thompson on Hollywood

Watch: Young Natalie Portman's Original Audition Tape for Luc Besson's 'Leon: The Professional'

Video

Check out Natalie Portman's original audition tape for Luc Besson's "Leon: The Professional." In the video, an 11-year-old Portman reads a number of the lines that she would eventually say in the 1994 film as Mathilda, the pre-teen taken in by assassin Leon (Jean Reno) after the murder of her family in a police raid. Watch below.

By Beth Hanna
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June 18, 2013 1:18 PM
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CASTING WATCH: Bradley Cooper is the Third Actor to Leave 'Jane Got a Gun' UPDATED

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The production of indie western "Jane Got a Gun" continues to be plagued by trouble, as Bradley Cooper -- set to replace Jude Law, who previously replaced Michael Fassbender -- is now the third actor to abandon the film.

By Maggie Lange
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May 2, 2013 8:44 AM
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Trailer Watch: Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman Star in 'Thor: The Dark World'

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The sequel to Kenneth Branagh's macho warrior epic "Thor" now has a trailer.

By Ryan Lattanzio
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April 23, 2013 12:28 PM
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Casting Watch: Portman's 'Got a Gun' for Fassbender, Farmiga's 'Psycho' Prequel at A&E, Nielson & Bell Join Trier's Nymphos

News

While it would seem impossible for the actor to physically accomplish all the roles on his slate, Michael Fassbender is in negotiations to join Natalie Portman in Lynne Ramsay's "Jane Got a Gun." Portman is producing the western and will star as a woman whose outlaw husband is being chased by criminal confederates...

By Sophia Savage
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August 28, 2012 12:55 PM
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Watch: Paul McCartney's Short 'My Valentine' Stars Portman & Depp; Screening with 'The Intouchables'

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Paul McCartney's debut short film (aka music video), "My Valentine," stars Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman and will screen in front of all showings of the Weinsteins' "The Intouchables," which opens this weekend.

By Sophia Savage
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May 25, 2012 11:49 AM
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SAG and Critics' Choice Movie Awards Name Presenters and Performers

Awards

Wednesday, both the Screen Actors Guild and the Critics' Choice Movie Awards announced their lineups of presenters. First up is the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, to be broadcast live by VH1 from the Hollywood Palladium at 8:00 p.m. on January 12.

By Anne Thompson
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January 11, 2012 3:39 PM
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IN THE WORKS: Stone's Cocaine Corvette, Portman's Next Planet & Polley Goes Atwood

News

Emma Stone is set to follow up "The Help" and "Crazy Stupid Love" (and the upcoming "The Amazing Spider Man" and "Gangster Squad") with "Little White Corvette," a GK Films project from the writer of "30 Minutes or Less," Michael Diliberti.

By Sophia Savage
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January 5, 2012 12:37 PM
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Film in the Decade Since 9/11: From Superheroes to Westerns, What Came After

This week's “Now and Then” column started out comparing and contrasting two movies about assassins — Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011) and Léon: the Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)—and ended up ruminating on 9/11. Trailers below:Life and culture are too messy to be divided into easy categories like “Before” and “After,” but for all the continuities in the way films are made and viewed, a long view of the last decade reveals some important, if subtle, shifts. Watching the network news coverage of September 11 to prepare for this column, I was reminded of how much we didn’t know that day, how much our fear stemmed from no longer being able to control the course of events.

By Matt Brennan
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September 12, 2011 11:36 AM
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Video: Before They Were Famous

Matt Damon made his on screen debut in the 80s coming-of-age film Mystic Pizza. He had one line, spoken to his mother while eating lobster: "Mom, do you want my green stuff?"

By Anne Thompson
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August 18, 2011 5:47 AM
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The Sell-Out Failures of Oscar Winners

Entertainment blog Grantland's "made-up entertainment-related statistics" department trashes Oscar-winners who cash in on boffo box-office paydays in often second-rate studio features. We're not sure if potential embarrassment outweighs the paychecks these stars receive, but Grantland makes a valid career query:"2011's bumper crop of sequels, remakes, and general schlock has built swimming pools in the backyards of some of our most revered [Oscar winning] actors. But at what cost to their dramatic cred? Exactly how much of the shine have they taken off their Academy Awards? And which actor did the most damage this year?"