Natalie Portman will star in and produce “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” a film that is based on the bestselling book written by Seth Grahame-Smith and Austen.

Though Austen’s name is on the book, Grahame-Smith took the liberty of adding bloodthirsty flesh-eating zombies to the mix.

Portman will produce through her handsomecharlie shingle with Annette Savitch, plus Darko Films’ Richard Kelly, Sean McKittrick and Ted Hamm.

Described as an expanded version of the Austen classic, the book tells the timeless story of a woman’s quest for love and independence amid the outbreak of a deadly virus that turns the undead into vicious killers.

Portman will play feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet, who is distracted from her quest to eradicate the zombie menace by the arrival of the arrogant Mr. Darcy.

“Natalie and I are longtime passionate fans of Jane Austen’s books and this a fresh, fun and thought-provoking way to approach her work,” Savitch said. “The idea of zombies running rampant in 19th Century England may sound odd, but it lends a modern sense of urgency to a well known love story.”

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Natalie Portman always thinks twice before agreeing to strip off on film – because she fears her naked image will end up on pornography websites.

The actress admits she struggled with the decision to appear nude at the start of her career, and even asked filmmakers to rewrite a scene in her 1999 movie Anywhere But Here because she felt uneasy about baring all.

She tells V magazine, “I was figuring out my own sexual identity, likes and dislikes and all that stuff, and it’s weird to be doing stuff on film as you’re figuring it out. Also being a sexual object when you’re a kid is really uncomfortable. After The Professional, I was already getting creepy letters.”

Portman insists she would sign up for more film roles that require her to shed her clothes – but she worries the footage will eventually hit the web.

She adds, “It’s annoying because online bulls**t interferes with what I want to do artistically. I’m not opposed to sexuality or nudity in a film, but I’m very opposed to pornography sites and you’re pretty much giving them material if you do any of that. It’s always a big dilemma for me.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

“….Being a sexual object when you’re a kid is really uncomfortable. After [debuting in 1994’s] ‘The Professional,’ I was already getting creepy letters.”

See the photo’s from inside the magazine!

What do you think of her dress? I think she looks beautiful!

In Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Portman takes on her first leading role as a fully grown woman, navigating the dilemmas of family for the first time.

Families never turn out quite according to plan, and Emilia Greenleaf (Portman) certainly never imagined herself the shunned stepmother. But after winning Jack (Scott Cohen) away from his wife Carolyn (Lisa Kudrow), she finds herself immersed in the cross-currents of a new hybrid family. Now second wife to her former lover, she’s forced to work out new relationships with her unco-operative stepson and his acerbic mother, who is still very much in the boy’s life.

Shadowing Emilia’s every attempt to get to know the stubborn, precocious young William (Charlie Tahan) is the unbearable loss of a baby she and Jack had hoped would cement their new marriage. Ostracized for wrecking Jack’s previous life and berated by Carolyn at every opportunity, Emilia increasingly distances herself from Jack, and is in danger of drowning in domestic disappointment.

Roos has made a career of crafting rich, layered roles for leading women. He allows his female characters to show the full range of their complicated selves, deepening our empathy as we follow their struggle. And he always leavens his portraits with humour. Watching Emilia grapple with William’s elaborate dietary requirements is to glimpse what it’s like to raise a child in Manhattan.

Roos directs Kudrow to a great performance, and gives Portman the room to show some of the fire she brought to Closer. Emilia is a woman who shuttles from grief to helplessness to anger, until she begins to find a way to define herself again. In all her conflicted glory, she is a wonder to behold.

Flynet, Source

There is nothing better than lying on your sofa and doing absolutely nothing,” says Natalie Portman, who just purchased this “rustic castle-like” historic estate in an exclusive, secluded enclave of LA. “Natalie wanted a property that had character and integrity, something that was special,” says Richard Stanley, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent in LA who specializes in architectural and historic properties.

“This house is perfect for her,” he says of the gorgeous 1930s-era home that the actress paid more than $3 million for. “It’s a beautiful home and truly is something special. It’s the trophy home of the neighborhood.” The restored house is located in the same neighborhood where Hollywood legends like Cecil B. DeMille, W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin and Carole Lombard once lived — and where numerous Hollywood celebs now live today. But it’s not the Hollywood label that convinced Natalie that this was the perfect home for her. It has four bedrooms and a private courtyard. It also includes two guest houses, perfect for visiting friends from back East, as well as her parents — her father, Avner, a fertility doctor, and her mother (and former agent), Shelley, to whom she credits much of her success. “If my career stops, if I do badly in a role or if one of my movies is a total failure, I know I’ll still have my parents. It helps me not to be afraid and to take risks,” Natalie says.

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Bauer Griffin

Plot Outline: T.J, a 13 year old boy and his Father, both devastated by the tragic loss of the Mother/Wife, are now living with the elderly Grandma. On his way to school one day, T.J has a chance encounter with Hesher, a late 20′s year old with a troubled past. Hesher assumes a role as both mentor and tormentor, leading T.J into troubles he could never have imagined. Nicole, a young grocery clerk trying to make ends meet steps in to protect T.J from a vicious attack, T.J becomes enamored with Nicole, only to have his fantasies destroyed by Hesher. Hesher moves into Grandma’s home, although uninvited, he is somehow accepted.

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