Venice Film Festival: Natalie Portman graces the red carpet and talks about 'Jackie'

Natalie Portman graced the red carpet at the premiere of her new film “Jackie” at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday night. All the eyes at the premiere were on the 35 years old actress, who looked stunning in a monochrome lace gown.

The highly anticipated film, “Jackie,” which follows the First Lady in the immediate aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, has opened to high praise from critics and audiences. Natalie’s portrayal of the complex titular character has also received rave reviews. The role has added another feather in Portman’s cap as she has played an impactful character, that of Jacqueline Kennedy.

Earlier in the day, Natalie appeared at a photo call where she told reporters that playing Jacqueline was one of the most challenging roles of her career, she also described it as "dangerous" to portray such a famous figure.

“Everyone knows what she looked like, sounded like and has kind of an idea of her,” the actress said at a press conference, as reported by Variety. She told reporters in Venice that the role was terrifying because she never really thought of herself as a great imitator. “I was just trying to get to something that people could get past and believe I was Jackie, and then you always have yourself in there too, inevitable,” she said.

The movie unfolds the four-day period right after President Kennedy was assassinated. The film also depicts the public and private personas of the former First Lady, which Portman said were quite different. She said that looking at the existing film and audiotape of Jackie, she and her team noticed that her voice and her presence were very different.

This is the first English-language film for Chilean-born director Pablo Larrain. He told reporters that part of the inspiration came when he read the Warren Commission report describing the President’s assassination and noticed “that Jackie was sitting next to him” at the time.