Natalie Portman Look Cute On Teen Vogue December 2007

The 26-year old actress Natalie Portman not only portrays incredible characters on screen (nevermind the speed bump that was the Star Wars prequels) but also uses her power off-screen to support and promote some incredible campaigns and initiatives. The UK Observer Magazine recently sat down with the star — over a veggie lunch and tap water — to discuss her career and passion for giving back. Here are some highlights:

On not being a vegan and recycling clothing:
“She’s not a vegan, though she has been trying to phase out eggs. ‘But I don’t think I could do it. It’s really hard for traveling, especially if you want to maintain your protein levels.’ She refuses to wear leather, but will wear wool. ‘Although I don’t think I have a lot of wool clothes. And I sort of made a no-buying-anything-new rule. I just have a lot of stuff,’ she says with a tiny pout. ‘And I figured: look, if I need something, if my running shoes have holes in them and I don’t have running shoes any more, then I’ll get new ones. But you know, I have 40 T-shirts, I have 20 pairs of jeans - you get so forced into believing [that you need all this stuff]. Maybe it’s a New York thing.’”

On selecting FINCA as her charity of choice:
“‘Well, yeah, because I wanna do something meaningful. They ask you to do 4,000 charity things a year and all of them are worthy. But I don’t think you can really make an impact unless you do [just] one thing and really devote yourself. And it’s been important to me.’”

On the environment:
‘There’s this book I love called The Future of Life by EO Wilson, about the environment. It’s basically aimed at business people who just think about infinite possibilities, infinite expansion - but the earth is limited! It’s very short term to think we can just accumulate and make as much as we can. If you wanna think longer-term economically, there are better ways.’

Natalie Portman Teen Vogue December 2007