Natalie Portman finds living in Paris "very different" from living in the US
The 43-year-old actress relocated to the French capital in 2014 and now finds it "weird" whenever she returns to the United Staes only to find that strangers don't greet each other like they do in Paris
16 May 2025
She told Net-a-Porter: "I find the people here are actually incredibly friendly - you just have to know how to interact, so that we're not the ones being rude. Now, when I go back to the U.S., I'm like, 'Oh,' I would go into a store and not say hello to everyone there? It's weird.
"I think we have an assumption that Western cultures are all the same, and kind of evened out by all this pop culture that everyone consumes. It's not true: it's extremely specific here, and the culture is very different in both deep and surface ways."
The 'Black Swan' star - who has son Aleph, 13, and eight-year-old Amalia with ex-husband Benjamin Millepied - enjoys the level of "privacy" that she has found living in Paris, and appreciates the way that French parents seem to have instilled manners into their children.
She said: "They're very good at privacy here, "I feel like the biggest compliment is 'elle est très discrète' ('she is very discreet'). All the kids that come to my house are, like, 'Bonjour Madame,' and give me the bise (cheek-to-cheek kiss).
"And before they leave, they are, like, 'Thank you for having me,' and if I'm not nearby, they'll come and find me to say it.
In terms of things to do, Natalie - who grew up in Long Island, New York - says that there is "always some incredible" event going on and do despite the sometimes "cold and grey" weather.
She said: "There's always some incredible exhibit or concert or dinner party or writers in town - something fascinating and stimulating happening. And the frequent vacations are so clutch!"
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