Portman devastated by breast infatuation
Natalie Portman's quest to mature like a normal girl after her movie debut in Leon was shattered by the media's obsession with her growing breasts.
The actress, then 12, was desperate to discover her sexual identity away from the limelight, but was left sickened by male fans' fascination with the development of her bust - a craze that men's magazines around the world zoned in on.
And Portman recalls with disgust the occasion she read an article which studied pictures showing the shape of her breasts under her T-shirt.
She says: "I wanted to stay away from doing overtly sexual roles because I didn't want my public image to interfere with my personal development.
"After Leon, it was such an experience. I realised that people could take it and make it their own thing. All of a sudden I was reading reviews that were talking about the development of my breasts under my T-shirt, and that was so upsetting to me as a 12-year-old to read about. You know - men writing about me in that way."
