This weekend sees Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan land in theaters with a whole lot of Oscar buzz surrounding it. The film, which stars Natalie Portman as a ballerina suffering through personal and professional problems as she prepares for a very big performance, has been hailed as one of the best (and craziest) of the year, with Portman looking to be a clear frontrunner for multiple Best Actress nominations throughout awards season. Will the role be enough to snag her an Oscar? We'll have to wait awhile to find that out, but in the meantime we thought it might be fun to look back over Portman's career and ask you which five roles of hers are your favorite. Here, I'll go first …
1. Garden State – Who can forget Portman's character Sam in this quirky indie dramedy about love and loss by Scrubs star Zach Braff. In it, Portman plays an eccentric girl who says strange things and moves her body in spontaneous ways in order to experience something no one else has. This was probably her cutest role, and the one that had every boy wishing she was their girlfriend.
2. Closer – Portman followed up Garden State with this excellent relationship drama from director Mike Nichols in which she plays an exotic dancer named Alice with lots of identity issues.
3. The Professional – Portman's very first feature role is still to this day one of her all-time best. In The Professional, she plays a 12-year-old girl who's taken in by a neighbor (who's also a professional assassin) when her parents are killed. He then trains her to be a killer, while navigating her through the rocky waters of puberty.
4. Star Wars prequels – Sure, the Star Wars prequels weren't all that we hoped they'd be, but Portman made things interesting by showcasing the most outrageous costumes throughout the three films. She deserved an Oscar just for putting some of those ridiculous outfits on.
5. V for Vendetta – Um, Natalie Portman as a badass bald chick is more than enough to count this among our favorite roles of hers.
Now it's your turn – what are some of your favorite Natalie Portman roles?
