Hailed as a child prodigy for her uncommonly skilled performances in Luc Besson’s “The Professional” (1994) and Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995), Natalie Portman dodged the “child star curse” bullet to become a major big screen draw in her twenties. Even as a teen, Portman’s talent for portraying sensitive old souls reflected her own grounded, emotionally evolved persona, as well as her ability to plan her career and choose roles wisely. She offered a Golden Globe-nominated performance as the level-headed daughter of flighty single mom Susan Sarandon in “Anywhere But Here” (1999), before
