"It definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it"- When Natalie Portman made her feelings known about Léon the Professional

Over the years, Léon, the Professional has remained memorable, and so has its 11-year-old star, Natalie Portman, who has been one of the leading names in Hollywood for quite a while now. The 1994 movie has remained divisive over all these years, partly for the controversies against the director, partly for the s*xualization of a child, which had many critics, and a bit because of how it aged.

As for Natalie Portman, she continues to have a complicated relationship with this film too. In an interview from May 10, 2023, with The Hollywood Reporter, Portman revealed that she found that the movie had "cringey aspects" to it. She elaborated on this, saying:

"It’s a movie that’s still beloved, and people come up to me about it more than almost anything I’ve ever made, and it gave me my career, but it is definitely, when you watch it now, it definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it. So, yes, it’s complicated for me."

Interestingly, this is hardly the only time Portman has spoken about Léon, the Professional in interviews. In fact, she also shared an interesting insight about how the movie s*xualized her character in another interview with IndieWire in 2020.

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"Being se*ualized as a child, I think took away from my own se*uality"- Natalie Portman on her character in Léon, the Professional

Portman has time and again discussed her breakthrough role, but not much has been positive about the film. She did hit out at critics for questioning her and her parents' choices of doing this role, but she also revealed in a 2020 interview with IndieWire how this role did affect her gravely.

Speaking about how the movie perhaps s*xualized the very young character, Natalie Portman said:

"I was definitely aware of the fact that I was being portrayed … as this ‘Lolita’ figure,...Being se*ualized as a child, I think took away from my own se*uality because it made me afraid, and it made me [feel] like the way I could be safe was to be like, ‘I’m conservative,’ and ‘I’m serious and you should respect me,’ and ‘I’m smart,’ and ‘don’t look at me that way.'"

So, in essence, a part of Natalie Portman's development directly stemmed from acting in this movie, and that goes beyond her professional life. She added:

"Whereas at that age, you do have your own se*uality and you do have your own desire, and you do want to explore things and you do want to be open. But you don’t feel safe, necessarily, when there’s older men that are interested, and you’re like, ‘No, no, no, no.'"

Because of this particular aspect of the film, there were many who criticized it when it was first released and it remains a controversial film even now.

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As for Natalie Portman, she never looked back after this role. She had a stellar career, working on many, many brilliant movies and earning many accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. She also became one of the world's highest-paid actors.

She is soon set to star in The Twits, Fountain of Youth, and The Gallerist, all of which are slated to arrive in the next two years.