Natalie Portman Spends Time With Estranged Husband As Fans Question If Divorce Is Still On

Highlights

Natalie Portman seen with estranged husband and kids after his reported affair.
Portman addresses rumors with a vague but clear response.
Actress emphasizes importance of integrating all aspects of identity amid personal struggles.

Natalie Portman reportedly left her husband Benjamin Millepied after his affair with a younger woman was exposed last year. However, fans are now questioning whether the divorce is really happening or not, after the estranged couple was recently seen spending time together.

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Natalie Spent Time With Her Estranged Husband And Their Kids

The 42-year-old actress was spotted enjoying a family lunch in Los Angeles with Benjamin alongside their two children, Aleph, 12, and Amalia, 6. A video published by Daily Mail captured a sweet moment where Natalie was seen with a big smile on her face as she shared something on her phone with her youngest child.

Following their meal, the family took a quick stroll together, enjoying the sunny weather and keeping to themselves despite the attention from paparazzi. Natalie and Benjamin were noticeably not wearing their wedding rings during the outing; Portman hasn’t been seen wearing a band since last year.

Natalie is notoriously private about her personal life and has only said a few things since her husband’s alleged affair was made public.

Natalie Recently Addressed Her Husband’s Affair With A Clear Response

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Portman had a vague but poignant response when asked about the speculation surrounding Benjamin’s reported relationship with 25-year Camille Étienne, a climate activist. The Star Wars alum simply said she had no interest in contributing to the media circus.

“It’s terrible, and I have no desire to contribute to it,” Natalie replied.

“I got very protective of it very early on,” Portman went on, explaining why she keeps her private life so secret. “I chose a different name when I started, which was kind of an interesting way that I separated identities. I would get upset if someone at school called me Natalie Portman.”

She continued, “I was like, ‘If you know me, you know me as Natalie Hershlag at school.’ It was kind of an extreme bifurcation of identity that I’ve tried to integrate a little bit more as an adult.”

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“I felt like it was not accepting that both were part of me, that there wasn’t a ‘real’ me and a ‘pretend’ me, and that they didn’t necessarily have different names,” the actress continued to explain. “And it’s not just two different versions, there are multitudes of ways other people see me, both public and private, and there are multitudes of ways I see myself. Somehow the intersection of all of those are part of me, and it’s important to have all of those within me and as me, as opposed to being like, that’s some external thing, this is the real thing.”

Natalie then referenced her children, saying becoming a mother made her even more protective of the image she puts out to the public.

“As I started having kids and a family, I started realizing that maybe it was not helpful to be like, ‘There’s two of me,’” she told the publication. “I have many interactions during my day as a public person. To exclude that from my experience is not real.”

For now, no public divorce filing for Natalie and Benjamin has been filed, and the pair haven’t commented on if they’re proceeding with divorce, despite various reports confirming Natalie has given up hope on fixing their marriage.