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Natalie Portman is tired of wasting time in make-up chairs

'I could have written five books in that time,' says the actress

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Natalie Portman feels like she's wasted chunks of her life sitting in make-up chairs.  While the Israel-born actress is widely regarded as one of the world's most beautiful women, Natalie still has to sit through endless hours in the make-up department.

And unlike her male co-stars, even when she's promoting a movie, Natalie is forced to endure beauty prep before stepping out onto the red carpet.

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"I do get upset by the disparity between actresses and actors," she sighed to The Cut. "When I go to a question-and-answer session, I have to go through two hours of make-up. The actor gets to roll out of bed. That really bums me out.

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"I've spent a lot of time getting hair and make-up done in my life. I could have written five books in that time - not that I would have. But it does feel like a lot of that time could be spent doing other positive things."

Perhaps because she knows just how much hard work goes into looking good, the Black Swan actress is a big supporter of celebrities who step out with no cosmetics on.

Alicia Keys has been one of the movement's most vocal champions, and 36-year-old Natalie says she's all for bare-faced beauty.

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"I love it," she grinned. "I think it's great. It's nice to see what people are like naturally. I have done no make-up for professional events, and it's great. I do it often for life.

"But it's fun and artistic to get to play with make-up, it's another way of expressing yourself. It's like the way I feel about feminism - women should be however they want to be. If you don't want to wear make-up, no one should make you feel like you're less than. If you want to wear a lot, they also shouldn't make you feel less than."

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