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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 2 december 2016
Natalie Portman explores the mysteries of Jackie Kennedy

LINDSEY BAHR wide-eyed bafflement. 2010 before getting the at-
AP Film Writer “Pablo’s face was like ‘uh- tention of Darren Aronof-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jac- hhhh...’,” Portman said sky, who was set to direct
queline Kennedy did not laughing. his then-fiancé Rachel
have a conventional They were filming a rec- Weisz in the role.
speaking voice. It’s part reation of the television After exiting, Aronofsky
New York, part prep school special “A Tour of the stayed on to produce and
Mid-Atlantic, and it’s jarring White House with Mrs. was the one who made
to most modern ears. Nata- John F. Kennedy,” where the somewhat unconven-
lie Portman remembers her CBS News correspondent tional ask of Larrain, a Chil-
first few days on the set of Charles Collingwood fol- ean filmmaker, to consider
“Jackie,” going all in on lowed the first lady around it.
that very specific accent with cameras as they When Portman met with
and looking up to see her spoke about each room Larrain, she said it was akin
director Pablo Larrain’s and her pricey restoration. to “being dared” to do the
film.
In this Nov. 11, 2016 photo, director Pablo Larrain, left, and ac- “He was like, ‘we’re going
tress Natalie Portman pose for a portrait to promote the film, to do this together or we’ll
“Jackie” at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. both walk away,’” she said.
Associated Press
“I was like ‘all right, this is
good. Let’s take each oth-
Larraín stopped during one terview with Theodore H. er’s hands and jump.’”
take and played footage White for LIFE magazine, The tone, thanks to studied
of the actual tour just to who first uttered the word editing of Sebastian Sepul-
check. He was amazed at Camelot in reference to veda and a striking score
how spot-on Portman’s in- their time in power. by Mica Levi, can some-
terpretation actually was. “I always assumed that the times seem more like a
Still, “at the beginning it Kennedy administration psychological thriller than
was shocking,” Larrain said. had been referred to as a conventional character
It was also, he notes, differ- Camelot from the begin- study. Larrain delights in
ent from how Jackie Ken- ning, that they were this the beauty of bringing an
nedy sounded in other cir- young, handsome couple audience to “that indeter-
cumstances. and American royalty,” minate place.”
She had a public voice Oppenheim said. “The Portman, on the other
and a private voice, which fact that she came up with hand, knows she’s at the
Portman was able to study Camelot is incredible. disposal of her directors
through Kennedy’s record- That one reference ac- and often isn’t aware of
ed interviews with Arthur complishes more than any the exact tone until she
Schlesinger, Jr. list of policy accomplish- sees the finished product.
The film “Jackie,” out in ments ever could have in “When we were making
limited release Friday, ex- terms of cementing in peo- ‘Black Swan,’ I thought I
plores the nuances of ple’s minds who Jack Ken- was making a completely
these public and private nedy was.” different movie from the
sides of the enigmatic fig- The film, however, isn’t out one I saw.
ure in the immediate after- to provide answers. It rel- I thought we were mak-
math of the assassination ishes in Jackie being this ing something almost like
of her husband in 1963 as inscrutable figure, show- a documentary and then I
she plans the funeral, ex- ing the subtle differences saw it and I was like ‘What?
its her home, comforts her in her interactions with the What is this!?’ I literally
children and tends to her people around her, includ- had no idea,” she said. “I
husband’s legacy. ing a priest (John Hurt), the thought it was like a realis-
It’s what compelled journalist (Billy Crudup), tic portrait of a psychologi-
screenwriter Noah Oppen- her longtime friend Nancy cal breakdown of a person
heim to make her the sub- Tuckerman (Greta Gerwig) and it was not at all. You
ject of his first script. and Bobby Kennedy (Peter can totally misunderstand
“Most often she is per- Sarsgaard). tone, but still it can work.”
ceived through the lens “(Oppenheim) told her The film, heavy with histori-
of being this style icon, this story through these differ- cal and emotional signifi-
beautiful woman at her ent relationships and the cance, did allow for some
husband’s side. People are different roles she played levity, though, compli-
fascinated by their mar- around the people in her ments of that White House
riage and his infidelities. life at different times. I think Tour.
But I didn’t feel like she had that’s really powerful ... “We enjoyed that so
ever gotten enough credit Consistency or arc is really much,” Larrain said. “It was
for understanding intuitive- a narrative fiction. just talking about furniture
ly the power of television, Human beings are not like and chairs. And she would
the power of imagery and that,” said Portman, who is even make the same mis-
iconography and her role earning some of the best takes Jackie did.”
in defining how we remem- reviews of her career for Portman: “We laughed a
ber her husband’s presi- her performance. lot. Pablo kept being like
dency,” Oppenheim said. Larrain wouldn’t do the film ‘be more excited about
It was she, a week after without Portman. The script the chair!’ She’s REALLY ex-
the assassination, in an in- had been around since cited about the chair.”q