Natalie Portman: 'I was sexualised as a child star'

Director and actress Natalie Portman. Photo / Getty

Natalie Portman says she was "sexualised" as a child actress.

The 'Black Swan' star began her career in the film industry when she was a teenager and she felt she was sexualised from that age but insists it was "not her doing" but "a part of her public identity".

Natalie Portman. Photo / Getty

She told People magazine: "I know I was sexualised in the ways that I was photographed or portrayed, and that was not my doing. That becomes a part of your public identity."

The 37-year-old actress previously spoke of how she "felt the need to cover her body" to show she was "worth of safety and respect".

Speaking earlier this year, she said: "I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort. I felt the need to cover my body and to inhibit my expression and my work in order to send my own message to the world that I'm someone worth of safety and respect."

Natalie Portman as a young actress. Photo / Getty

Meanwhile, Natalie previously revealed how the Time's Up and #MeToo movements have allowed her to make friends in the movie industry for the first time in 25 years.

She said: "I've been working for 25 years - I've never had friendships in my industry until now. You're usually the [only] girl in the movie. [Time's Up] made us come together. We're actively gathering. Just the power of us getting to know other women in our own industry and sharing information that can help us be safer, more productive, more successful."