hellomagazine.com

NATALIE PORTMAN SHOWS HER CLASS IN ACADEMIC ROLE

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7 MARCH 2006

At the age of just 24 Natalie Portman has already managed to clock up over 20 film credits and establish herself as one of Tinseltown's most sought-after performers. And the diminutive actress, who is fluent in five languages and holds a degree in psychology, has now decided to add teaching to her impressive resumé by becoming a university professor.

The Cold Mountain star made quite an impression on students at Columbia University in New York when she went along to work as a stand-in professor on Monday. The pretty performer is no stranger to the goings-on of a college campus, however, as she studied for her own qualification at Harvard between 1999 and 2003.

Casually dressed in blue jeans and a loose-fitting top, Natalie looked rather less intimidating than her shaven-headed character in latest movie offering V For Vendetta. The actress, who says people took her for a troublemaker while she was sporting the skinhead look, has since grown her brunette locks back.

But that's not to say she's lost her ability to surprise her fans. Television viewers stateside were left in stitches last weekend when the Israeli-born celeb performed a spoof rap song on Saturday Night Live in which she parodied many of her best-known movie roles.