Pregnant Natalie Portman Unable to Attend Oscars: ‘I Feel So Lucky to Be Honored’
She may be wearing custom couture to the actual Oscars, but Natalie Portman is equally award-worthy in a Topshop maternity dress (on sale for $30 before it sold out) at the nominees' luncheon.
Natalie Portman won’t be present at the Oscars ceremony this Sunday nor Saturday’s Independent Spirit Awards — but for good reason.
“Due to my pregnancy, I am unable to attend the Independent Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards,” Portman said in statement to PEOPLE. “I feel so lucky to be honored among my fellow nominees and wish them the most beautiful of weekends.”
The 35-year-old star, who is up for a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of former first lady Jackie Kennedy in the biopic Jackie, is currently expecting her second child with French choreographer husband Benjamin Millepied. Their second child will join the couple’s 5½-year-old son Aleph.
The Academy Awards kicks off live on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 26, with a 7 p.m. ET pre-show and 8:30 p.m. ceremony. See all the Oscar nominees and get your own ballot here!
But Portman is no stranger to gracing the Oscars red carpet while pregnant. In 2011, she took home Best Actress for her role in the Darren Aronofsky thriller Black Swan, and was pregnant with Aleph at the time.
And though it seems almost impossible for the Star Wars alum to look anything less than stunning, she admits she dresses more for substance than style at this time in her life.
“I think you can get away with things that are more comfortable,” Portman told the PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN) at January’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. “You have a good excuse to want to be comfortable.”
Watch the PEOPLE & EW Red Carpet Live Oscars pre-show on Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on the People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN). Go to PEOPLE.com/PEN, or download the app on your favorite device. Then watch our Red Carpet Fashion Wrap-Up after the Oscars!
From magazine spreads to awards shows, to movie premieres and walks around L.A., the expectant mom has been spotted showing off her too-cute bump. But according to Portman, as told to Jimmy Fallon in November, she started showing early because she’s “a small person in general” and still had “months to go” in her pregnancy.
As for the baby’s sex, the actress told Ellen DeGeneres in December that she and Millepied have no idea — but that she does know her cravings have been very specific.
“This healthy, like pineapple, cucumbers … burritos, which is maybe less healthy but delicious,” Portman quipped at the time.
reporting by MARY GREEN
