I think we can all agree that Natalie Portman is basically perfect. A more beautiful star has never before graced the silver screen. Whether you've seen her "Closer" or "Black Swan," you're already aware that she has major acting chops as well. It's hard to ignore, however, that her career as of late has hit a few speed bumps. Coming on the heels of a rather disappointing box office showing for her most recent film "Annihilation," Portman, 36, decided to take drastic measures to give her career a boost. Rumor has it she recently swallowed 10 million spider eggs in the hopes that this will somehow help her to land her next role.
Talk about dedication to the craft!
According to a recent report published by People Magazine, thousands of minute vibrations have been detected near Portman's Bel Air home. This can only mean that male spiders were in the throes of the mating dance and began to bash their claws against the floor in the hopes of wooing a female mate. After the females copulated with the males and devoured them, the females laid the eggs, covered them in silk--forming a protective larval sack-- before Portman's servants harvested these eggs, delivering them to the actress on a silver platter, sources say.
Swallowing several million spider eggs is nothing new for Portman, however. Indeed, Portman was always big about swallowing spider eggs: it's the pictures that got small.
According to Luc Besson, who casted a 12 year old Portman in "Leon: the Professional," he was impressed by the young actress' expressiveness and work ethic during her audition. "She seemed like she was wise beyond her years. I was deeply impressed by her artistry from the beginning. Once she swallowed 3 million spider eggs, that just sealed the deal".
After appearing in "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace," she attended Harvard College continuing to appear in subsequent Star Wars films while working on a degree in Arachnology. In 2005 she graduating first in her class and published the monograph "On the Reproductive System of the Arachnid: Some Aspects".
Given her raw talent, intelligence and beauty, it is only a matter of time before the 10 million spider eggs she swallowed help her to land a new role, however that may be. Spider-egg-swallowing is a tried and true practice in tinsel town, going all the way back to the Golden Age of Hollywood.
None other than Rita Hayworth, the number one pinup girl of the 40s and "Love Goddess" of the movies, resorted to swallowing spider eggs on more than one occasion. According to one biographer, in 1957 Rita was desperate to land a role in the upcoming Sinatra picture "Pal Joey".
Nearing 40, however, big studios were beginning to see her as "over the hill" and were taking a pass on the famed starlet. Rita was not having it, though. She burst into Columbia Pictures headquarters, grabbed producer Fred Kohlmar by the lapels and told him point blank.
"Listen buster, I have 40 pictures under my belt and if you don't let me in this movie you can take a flying jump. I will do whatever it takes: I'll swallow 10 million spider eggs, I'll swallow 20 million spider eggs, by God I'll swallow 30 million spider eggs if I have to: just get me that picture!"
Three weeks and 60 million spider eggs later, she got the part and stole our hearts again.
While some will say that Portman shouldn't put all her spider eggs in one basket, we feel this gamble can only pay off for the legendary actress. So hats off to Natalie Portman: Actress, Humanitarian and Spider Egg swallower, a real triple threat.