Rumors emerged that there was more to the presumed ‘flirtatious’ exchange between Natalie Portman and author Jonathan Foer in their 2016 emails, but the duo just found it funny.
Years after The Emails of Natalie Portman and Jonathan Foer for the New York Times raised eyebrows with some intense excerpts touching on religion, weather, family, and more, fans are keen to know if there was any truth to the lengthy dialogues between two famous intellects who didn’t shy away from being devoted to each other through words and pictures that did justice to the conversations.
The 2016 Emails of Natalie Portman and Jonathan Safar Foer
Natalie had long been a fan of Jonathan when the New York Times published the emails they had exchanged over the years. The author’s book, Eating Animals, inspired the Black Swan actress to become vegan, and she went on to produce a documentary of the same name.
They first met after a Cambridge Mass book reading for the 2022 novel, Everything is Illuminated, when Natalie approached Jonathan. She was a student at Harvard University at the time.
They became good friends over the years. The actress was pregnant when she read Jonathan’s book, which made her question what values she would be imparting to her children.
The duo’s values were so similar at the core that their lengthy emails discussed nearly everything, from garbage and parking days to acting and freedom.
They didn’t mind being ‘pretentious’
Two years after the email interview was published, Natalie and Jonathan spoke to the Los Angeles Times about their forthcoming project on Eating Animals, when the topic of the old exchange came up.
The interviewer asked Natalie if she was bothered by being labeled ‘pretentious’ by trolls, who were making fun of the emails she and Jonathan wrote to each other. The actress didn’t really mind admitting to it.
She said: “I am pretentious! So it’s good to be reminded. Sometimes, I get too serious or whatever. I don’t really mind. It was mainly funny.”
And Jonathan added: “We’re talking about seriousness and pretentiousness and whatever — you’re lucky if you get to be serious about your life. It’s a gift, and not many people have that gift. “
“I think about it all the time — how grateful I am that I get to do what I care about and get to be serious about what I care about.”
The emails of Natalie and Jonathan were intended to promote the former’s 2015 film, A Tale of Love and Darkness, which first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and later in the US theaters.
The movie is also discussed in their emails when Jonathan asks the actress how her own experiences contributed to the vision of time in her film.
Drawing parallels to each other’s careers, the writer asks the actress: “My first book came out when I was young, but you have been a professional actress for what seems like your entire life.
“How has that influenced your sense of the passage of time?”
The Emails of Natalie Portman and Jonathan Foer can be accessed on NYT.
