By all accounts, Natalie Portman is a star actress with countless successful films to her name. She has been nominated over 150 times for various awards and won an Oscar for her role in Black Swan. Accordingly, Portman's net worth is pretty impressive.
Yet not everyone thinks Natalie Portman is a powerhouse actress, with many critics lamenting that many of her projects could have been better, no matter how much she wound up getting paid for them.
Natalie Portman Has Had A Long And Lucrative Career
Natalie Portman's (not her real name) career started when she was barely a tween, and she gained momentum in the mid-2000s with roles opposite Scarlett Johansson (The Other Boleyn Girl) and Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire (Brothers).
But it took Portman many years to finally land high-paying gigs, even if her Marvel entry as Jane saw her making far less than Thor himself. Even films like the widely appreciated romcom No Strings Attached resulted in lower pay for the female lead; Natalie made less than Ashton Kutcher for that movie.
Yet her entry into Star Wars and Marvel seems to have helped Natalie secure earnings long-term, all while working on notable projects like V for Vendetta, Jackie, and more.
Despite the pay disparities, which are an ongoing Hollywood problem, Natalie Portman has amassed a decent net worth over the years.
Natalie Portman Is Worth $90 Million
Calling Natalie Portman one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, Marca hints that the bulk of Natalie's earnings is thanks to Thor. Portman's role as Jane started back in 2011 with the main film, then continued with Thor: The Dark World in 2013 and more recently, Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022.
Of course, that completely ignores Natalie's quite notable role as Padme Amidala in various Star Wars films. The blockbuster franchise likely helped Natalie build her net worth much faster than one-off films and gigs as she gained her place in Hollywood.
As of 2023, Natalie Portman's net worth is about $90 million, with many of her blockbuster roles making up the bulk of her income. It was a slow start, however, especially with Marvel.
Portman reportedly made only $100,000 as Jane in the first Thor film, though her salary increased to $1.2M for Thor: Love and Thunder.
Films aren't Portman's only source of income, though; she also has brand partnerships that have helped pad her net worth by millions of dollars. Case in point? Natalie Portman is said to make about $10 million per year via a partnership with luxury brand Dior.
While Natalie and Ashton Kutcher both confirmed that Natalie earned three times less than her male counterpart, it's unclear exactly how much either of them was paid.
Natalie Portman's salary per movie is guesstimated at around $5 to $7 million, but the information hasn't been verified. Some sources also say Portman makes around $800,000 per month, but that will vary (if true) based on which projects she's working on.
Not Everyone Loves Natalie Portman's Work
Many of Natalie Portman's film projects have earned critical acclaim, including the Oscar-winning Black Swan. In fact, Natalie seemed to have given her all in Black Swan, even losing weight to appear as a dancer, but many viewers didn't see it that way.
Some viewers who have watched her movies agreed with one Redditor's analysis that Natalie is a "bad actress" and is "riding on a reputation" rather than showcasing any real talent. While Black Swan earned high marks from reviewers on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic, even the Wikipedia entry for the film points out that the movie was widely loved or hated, and nothing in between.
As for the critics on Reddit, many agreed that Natalie has portrayed various characters that are just plain "sad," seconding the opinion of one critic from the New Yorker who wrote that Natalie's performance was "often on the verge of caricature."
Commenters reiterated the idea that Natalie's characters are "really one dimensional" in their sadness and brooding, suggesting that Portman should take on roles with more dynamic characters. Given the nature of the criticism, it's worth pointing out that character issues may not be Portman's responsibility, as she's portraying the character as it's written and developed, not in the way she would necessarily have created the persona.
Yet some viewers suggest her acting is also "super wooden" and that her accent sometimes causes issues with delivering lines. Many called her "bland" and surmised that because Portman is beautiful, she's often cast in projects based on her looks alone.
What's more, they claim, Portman is just as "expressionless" as actors like Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kristen Stewart, and needs to "do something else."