Natalie Portman portrayed Jane Foster in Thor and will reprise the role in Thor: The Dark World.

Significant roles

• Mathilda in The Professional (1994)
• Lauren Gustafson in Heat (1995)
• Taffy Dale in Mars Attacks! (1996)
• Laura Dandridge in Everyone Says I Love You!(1996)
• Padmé Amidala in Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Novalee Nation in Where the Heart Is (2000)
• Padmé Amidala in Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Sara in Cold Mountain (2003)
• Alice in Closer (2004)
• Padmé Amidala in Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Dominique Bellamy in Domino One (2005)
• Evey Hammond in V for Vendetta (2005)
• Inés/Alicia in Goya's Ghost (2006)
• Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
• Grace Cahill in Brothers (2009)

Quotes

• "I just thought it sounded like a weird idea because Kenneth Branagh's directing it, so I was just like, 'Kenneth Branagh doing Thor is super-weird, I've gotta do it!"
• "It was sort of actually not something I was dying to do. Not Thor in particular, but a big movie. When I heard Ken was doing it, I said, 'Wow that is a daring and interesting idea.' Then I met Ken and he was someone I was extremely interested to get to spend three months with. It was probably the first, or one of the first times, that my expectations were actually exceeded."
• "Getting to experience that with Ken's guidance, - who's the master of attacking text and character from every angle - was a new way to approach blue screen acting. It was an exciting challenge to go at again."
• "I think comics have such classic epic themes. Like Thor, I think you could make a small independent film with the same themes and it would be really interesting. It's a total thrill. Jane is a well loved character, but also one who is really open to finding new colours."
• "I'm not in The Avengers, but I am in the future Thor films if and when they happen."
• “I signed on to do it before there was a script. And Ken, who’s amazing, who is so incredible, was like, ‘You can really help create this character.‘ “
• “I got to read all of these biographies of female scientists like Rosalind Franklin who actually discovered the DNA double helix but didn’t get the credit for it. The struggles they had and the way that they thought — I was like, ‘What a great opportunity, in a very big movie that is going to be seen by a lot of people, to have a woman as a scientist.’She’s a very serious scientist. Because in the comic she’s a nurse and now they made her an astrophysicist. Really, I know it sounds silly, but it is those little things that makes girls think it’s possible. It doesn’t give them a [role] model of ‘Oh, I just have to dress cute in movies.’”
• "Well, Thor is exiled to Earth to learn humility and earn his right to be a leader. And I think Jane is definitely part of what grounds him on Earth. That's something Ken (Branagh) is always saying, about making sure my feet were on the ground all the time."
• "It was amazing. The experience working with Ken made it very different, because he pays so much attention to character. It feels like you're making a small character piece, even though there was all this elaborate filmmaking going on around you. He never got lost in that."
• "It was funny, because we filmed about a monthe where we were all dressed like earthlings, obviously. Him included. Then of all sudden we started shooting scenes where he was in a superhero costume, and it was a real shock. We were all amazed. The costume's really incredible."
• "No, no. Anyone who ever approaches me has always been very respectful and sweet. And it's exciting to have people be passionate about what you do. That's the best thing you can hope for. And I'm pretty camouflaged. I'm small, so I camouflage easily [laughs]."
• "The glowing mum to be said "When I saw those guys being screwed and bolted in and out of their costumes and they couldn't pee for 15 hours straight, I was feeling really good about being in sweatpants and flannel shirts."
• [Chris Hemsworth is] a sweet guy, unaffected by all this hoopla and a total pleasure to work with.
• "I was like, 'Wow, they're not trying to hot me up! The whole point was to make her a believable character. I was wearing a flannel shirt and sweatpants a lot of the time and there were no body hugging dresses..."
• "I love Darren Aronofsky and working with him was a deeply fulfilling experience but I just showed up for Thor spent. I probably should have gone into rehab."
• "Chris is so, so talented. It’s really sort a birth-of-a-star moment, you watch [‘Thor’] and you’re like, ‘Wow, this guy is a superhero.'"
• "[‘Thor’] is just really this epic family drama with a lot of fun in it too, Ken Branagh directed it, and he really keeps this classic dramatic structure while at the same time, having the fun sort of comic book elements preserved."
• "The fact that she’s a scientist and on the fringe of mainstream science and is almost this absent-minded professor type with her devotion to her work, I felt you haven’t really seen that as a female before. She’s cluttered and just off. She’s emotional and passionate and kind of a mess. To be able to see that kind of woman in this type of movie, I thought that would be something exciting. Any time you read about those special scientists and their lives, it’s that they’re poets and artists as much as they are like other scientists."
• "I really didn’t know about it until I started talking to Ken about doing the role and then I started looking into it. The openness that they approached this with the way they were interested in me bringing what I wanted to the character and to help create this version of her it made for a big job. I really felt they were going to let me do whatever was needed to make this character human and compelling and a great partner for Thor."