Star Wars Fans, Marvel Fans, and More Celebrate Natalie Portman's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Natalie Portman! The Academy Award-winning actor known for playing Padmé Amidala in Star Wars and Jane Foster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned 41 on June 9th. When it comes to Marvel and Star Wars, there are many actors who have appeared in both franchises, but very few have had a presence as big as Portman's. In 2011, six years after Revenge of the Sith, she made her MCU debut in Thor and reprised the role in Thor: The Dark World in 2013. When she didn't appear in Thor: Ragnarok in 2017, it seemed her days with the franchise were over, but a small cameo in Avengers: Endgame in 2019 gave fans hope. Now, Portman is back in a big way for Thor: Love and Thunder, which is coming out next month. Before checking out some of the birthday tweets in Portman's honor, here's what she had to say about training for Thor 4... 

"It was really fun," Portman recently said about training to become The Mighty Thor. "I worked with a trainer, Naomi Pendergast, for, I think it was, four months before shooting, and then obviously all the way through filming. We did a lot of weight training and a lot of protein shakes—heavyweight training that I haven't ever done before. Of course, I've never really aimed to get bulky. It was very physical, so it was a lot of both agility work and also strength work." She added later in the same interview, "It definitely helps you get into character, and it's definitely changed the way I move. You walk differently; you feel different. I mean, it's so wild to feel strong for the first time in my life."

You can check out some of the posts in honor of Portman's birthday below...