"I'm going to try to pull a Natalie Portman. Natalie went to Harvard while shooting 'Star Wars'. I don't know how she did it. I want to have lunch with her and ask her - that seems like a bunch of stress right there"
About this Quote
The line "I don't know how she did it" does the real work. It's not modesty so much as a peek behind the PR curtain: the recognition that the glamor narrative depends on invisible labor, relentless scheduling, and a tolerance for burnout. Gomez doesn't romanticize the grind; she calls it what it is: stress. That matters coming from a pop-era performer whose career was built in public from adolescence onward, where "growth" is demanded but rarely structurally supported.
Wanting to "have lunch with her and ask her" is a quietly revealing detail, too. It's mentorship-as-access, the way knowledge circulates in celebrity culture: not through institutions, but through proximity to the right person. The subtext is both aspiration and critique. If Portman represents the exception, Gomez is pointing at the rule - that the machine isn't designed for you to be fully human (or fully educated) while it profits from your constant availability.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work-Life Balance |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gomez, Selena. (2026, January 16). I'm going to try to pull a Natalie Portman. Natalie went to Harvard while shooting 'Star Wars'. I don't know how she did it. I want to have lunch with her and ask her - that seems like a bunch of stress right there. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-going-to-try-to-pull-a-natalie-portman-natalie-115960/
Chicago Style
Gomez, Selena. "I'm going to try to pull a Natalie Portman. Natalie went to Harvard while shooting 'Star Wars'. I don't know how she did it. I want to have lunch with her and ask her - that seems like a bunch of stress right there." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-going-to-try-to-pull-a-natalie-portman-natalie-115960/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm going to try to pull a Natalie Portman. Natalie went to Harvard while shooting 'Star Wars'. I don't know how she did it. I want to have lunch with her and ask her - that seems like a bunch of stress right there." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-going-to-try-to-pull-a-natalie-portman-natalie-115960/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.





