Any Natalie Portman fan knows that the Oscar winning actress stunned audiences with her debut role in THE PROFESSIONAL, or LEON for the non-American fans. Her role as Mathilda is the central role to Jean Reno‘s character going from cold-blooded cleaner to a father figure to the young girl. THE PROFESSIONAL is one of my favorite movies and I don’t think I have met anyone who dislikes it.
In an interesting find, Natalie Portman‘s audition reel for THE PROFESSIONAL has been found online and shows the 11 year old actress with a stunningly skilled ability at such a young age. It baffles me that someone so young can inhabit a role so well and it also shows a precursor to the stellar career she would go on to have.
As a big Natalie Portman fan, I think this video is a really cool look back and a nice reminder of how badass THE PROFESSIONAL is. On the downside, no one wants to think about someone they spank to when they were eleven. Creepy.