Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman Joins MasterClass to Teach Acting

SAN FRANCISCO, March 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MasterClass, the online education company that enables anyone to learn from the best in the world, announced today that Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman's first-ever online class exclusively through its platform is now available at www.masterclass.com/np. Portman will share with students her unique approach to acting that she has honed over many years. Students can enroll in the class with unlimited access for a one-time purchase of $90, or subscribe for unlimited access to this class and all new and existing classes through the All-Access Pass for $180 per year.

"Natalie is thrilling," said David Rogier, co-founder and CEO of MasterClass. "She approaches each role with a ferociousness and artistry that simply make her one of the best actresses of her generation -- and she's done it without formal training. Her class dives into the craft in ways no other class has done -- teaching you how to create the career you want and to understand everything from character mapping, to dialect, to responding to your sets to green screen acting. The class will blow you away."

Natalie Portman is one of the most celebrated and versatile film actors, having acted in more than 40 films during her extensive career. After getting her start at the age of eleven, Portman made her on screen debut in the 1994 film, The Professional, and went on to hone her craft through an enormous body of work across a range of genres--from historical narratives and psychological horror to science-fiction, drama, action and romantic comedy. Portman gained worldwide prominence in 1999 when she portrayed Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The Harvard graduate earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Anywhere But Here, Academy Award and Golden Globe wins for her standout role in Black Swan, and Academy Award nominations for her roles in Closer and Jackie. Most recently, Portman starred in the acclaimed sci-fi thriller, Annihilation, played a popstar in Vox Lux, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival, executive produced and narrated the documentary, Eating Animals, and stars in Noah Hawley's untitled astronaut drama, in theaters at the end of 2019.

"Acting is a joyful experience. It's the act of empathy and play," said Portman. "You should be free to be creative, try new things and make mistakes. That is how I learned. In this class, I'm excited to share what I've pieced together over 25 years as an actress—things that have worked for me, things that I've seen work well for others, and things I figured out myself."

In her MasterClass, Portman will share her many approaches to acting for the screen. She'll teach students how building a character map becomes a useful technique to understanding a character's journey. Portman will also show how to work with the director and camera to create stronger performances by demonstrating how to work with other departments in a live scene.  She'll also speak to navigating the fine line between taking direction while bringing your own ideas to the table.

Diving into case studies from two of her most notable films, Black Swan and Jackie, Portman will explain how she researches characters for both historical and fictional roles, how she builds the physicality and the consciousness of the character and how she defines the voice and nuances of dialect for different roles, while demonstrating training exercises with her dialect coach.

MasterClass continues to expand its catalogue into new categories, bringing leading instructors to its engaged base of subscribers. MasterClass provides educational, inspiring, and engaging classes taught by the world's greatest minds. With more than 50 classes that dive into processes, techniques and philosophies, MasterClass helps students progress more rapidly towards their own mastery, explore new passions, and learn new skills. It offers a unique learning experience, including video lessons, interactive exercises, course materials, peer interaction, and more. Students can subscribe for unlimited access to all new and existing classes through the All-Access Pass for $180 per year, or enroll in an individual class for a one time purchase of $90. The course can be accessed online at www.masterclass.com, the MasterClass mobile app for iOS and Android and Apple TV.

Embed & view the trailer for Natalie Portman's MasterClass here
https://youtu.be/TSpiI21q76E

Download stills here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/csn8h8rvs5ahmfk/AADMcaA8CZa0vs3XC18xViUka?dl=0 
Courtesy of MasterClass

ABOUT MASTERCLASS
Founded in 2015, MasterClass started with the idea that everyone should have "access to genius." The online education platform provides affordable, engaging, and inspirational online classes taught by world-renowned instructors, making it possible for anyone to learn from the best.

MasterClass' current roster of courses includes:

Business: Howard Schultz (Business Leadership)

Culinary Arts: Gordon Ramsay (cooking), Alice Waters (home cooking), Thomas Keller (cooking techniques), Wolfgang Puck (cooking), Dominique Ansel (French pastry), James Suckling (wine appreciation)

Film and Television: Werner Herzog (filmmaking), Martin Scorsese (filmmaking), Ron Howard (directing), Spike Lee (filmmaking), Mira Nair (independent filmmaking), Jodie Foster (filmmaking), Ken Burns (documentary filmmaking), Helen Mirren (acting), Samuel L. Jackson (acting), Judd Apatow (comedy), Aaron Sorkin (screenwriting), Shonda Rhimes (writing for television), Natalie Portman (acting)

Music and Entertainment: Steve Martin (comedy), Christina Aguilera (singing), Usher (performance), Reba McEntire (country music), Herbie Hancock (jazz), Deadmau5 (music production), Armin van Buuren (dance music), Hans Zimmer (film scoring), Tom Morello (electric guitar), Carlos Santana (art and soul of guitar), Timbaland (music production and beatmaking)

Writing: James Patterson (writing), David Mamet (dramatic writing), Judy Blume (writing), Malcolm Gladwell (writing), RL Stine (writing for young audiences), Margaret Atwood (creative writing), Dan Brown (writing thrillers)

Photography: Annie Leibovitz (photography), Jimmy Chin (adventure photography) 

Design and Fashion: Frank Gehry (architecture), Diane von Furstenberg (how to build a fashion brand), Marc Jacobs (fashion design)

Sports and Games: Serena Williams (tennis), Stephen Curry (shooting, ball-handling, and scoring), Garry Kasparov (chess), Daniel Negreanu (poker)

Politics and Society: Jane Goodall (conservation), Bob Woodward (investigative journalism), Karl Rove and David Axelrod (political campaign strategy), Paul Krugman (economics and society)

Science and Technology: Chris Hadfield (space exploration), Will Wright (game design)

For more information, please visit www.masterclass.com.

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SOURCE MasterClass

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