'Jackie' Star Natalie Portman Compares and Contrasts the Kennedys With the Trumps

In Jackie, Natalie Portman plays Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of John F. Kennedy. Portman herself is outspokenly political. The Oscar winner is an advocate for animal rights, antipoverty causes, and LGBTQ issues, and she campaigned for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania.

The Guardian asked Portman to compare the Kennedys with the Trumps. “[John F. Kennedy] was a great proponent of civil rights and was quite revolutionary in that — and devoted his entire life to public service, which cannot be said of Mr. Trump who is, what, 50 or 60 years later in history, and is taking us backwards on civil rights issues,” Portman said. “And also has only just started his public-service career at 70.”

Portman doesn’t have a strong opinion about incoming first lady Melania Trump. “I don’t really know anything about [Melania Trump], but I would hope that she would take Jackie’s example in being a proponent for a cause that she cares about, whether it’s women’s rights or immigrants’ rights, as a female immigrant herself,” she said.

Portman was born in Israel, raised in the United States, and has lived in France, but she plans on staying in the U.S. during Trump’s administration. “It’s a time when I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else because it would be hard if you’re living far away from your own country that you care about and want to help make things better,” she said. “Not being able to be really close would be hard. I’d rather be here and be part of making things better, and trying to help my own community.”

Natalie Portman on playing Jackie Kennedy:

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