Continuing, she went on to admit how at that age, she wanted to explore her sexuality but felt as if she couldn't, saying: "At that age, you do have your own sexuality, and you do have your own desire, and you do want to explore things, and you do want to be open."
"But you don't feel safe, necessarily, when there's, like, older men that are interested, and you're like, 'No, no, no, no'."
As a result of her troubled childhood in the spotlight, Portman believes that it was what informed her decision-making and forced her to create emotional walls in order to protect herself.
"So many people had this impression of me that I was super serious and conservative… and I realised I consciously cultivated that because it was always to make me feel safe," she admitted. "Like, 'Oh, if someone respects you, they’re not gonna objectify you'."
"When I was in my teens, I was like, 'I don't want to have any love scenes or make-out scenes'," she said. "I would start choosing parts that were less sexy, because it made me worried about the way I was perceived and how safe I felt."
Throughout her career, Portman has earned critical acclaim for films such as No Strings Attached, the Thor franchise and Black Swan, for which she won the 'Best Actress' award at the 2011 Academy Awards.
