Exclusive Interview: Natalie Portman Talks ‘Lady in the Lake,’ Her Collaboration with Showrunner Alma Har’el, and Venturing into Television

Natalie Portman, an Oscar-winning actress, has consistently captivated audiences with her deeply nuanced performances in critically acclaimed films such as Jackie, Black Swan, May December, and V for Vendetta. Her extraordinary talent for immersing herself in her roles has made her one of the most sought-after storytellers in the industry. Now, Portman is bringing her remarkable talent to the small screen, making her highly anticipated debut in Lady in the Lake.

When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) is a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family. Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger. From visionary director Alma Har’el, Lady in the Lake emerges as a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams.

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Natalie about Lady in the Lake, her collaboration with showrunner Alma Har’el, her first venture into television, and more.

PC: Maddie’s journey throughout the series is about rediscovering the marvelous within herself and reclaiming her freedom. But that ambition forces her to come to terms with her own blind spots. There’s such rawness that you brought to your performance and that exploration. How did you create the space for yourself to delve into the nuances of this complex character, step into her shoes, and bring to life the shared experiences of so many women living during that time?
Natalie: Thank you so much. It’s quite a universal thing that every female character’s story is about searching to be free. That was the root of it. Alma Har’el was such an incredible leader and guided us through it. She really encouraged us to look at our subconscious. She put many of us together with a dream coach who worked with us through our dreams. That really connected us to the surreal aspects and the deep inner lives of our characters in a way that I’ve never experienced before in any project.

PC: You’re also an executive producer and had a significant influence in reimagining the source material. One of the things that was expanded in this limited series was Cleo’s storyline. Can you talk a bit about that collaboration with Alma and how the two of you fleshed that out? Why was that so important to you creatively?
Natalie: Thank you so much for asking that. When Jean-Marc Vallée, whom we devastatingly lost right before shooting began, brought me the material with his partner Nathan Ross, they put me in touch with Alma. We were both interested in the project, but we needed Cleo to be more fleshed out and realized. We knew her story needed to be central to this narrative. We didn’t want to make a murder mystery in which the victim and the murder are just tools to tell the story. We wanted her story to be front and center. Alma very beautifully took that on and really expanded this character into an incredible role that Moses Ingram, who’s the most extraordinary actress, brought to life in such a nuanced way. We were so grateful to have her come and embody this woman.

PC: This limited series is so gripping to watch and really defies expectation and genre. This is also your first venture into television, but there are so many interesting parallels to the projects and characters you’ve played in the past. Which of your previous roles and films had the biggest impact on your transformative performance and finding your way into this character and medium?
Natalie: It’s interesting. I wasn’t really conscious of the relationship to the other roles that I did. I didn’t necessarily see the patterns until after the fact. Jackie takes place in the same time period, so the historical context is quite similar, as well as the costumes being from the same era. Shiona Turini, our costume designer on this, did such an extraordinary job. People have also been talking about the parallels to May December and who gets to tell the story, and when you’re telling the story, are you being callous toward the subject of the story and their need to be able to tell their own story.

To keep up with Natalie, follow her on Instagram. Lady in the Lake premieres on July 19th on Apple TV+.

Photo Credit: Apple TV+