The actor opens up to L'OFFICIEL about all things fragrance, romance, and art on the eve of her latest Miss Dior campaign.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Everything's better sexier, isn't it?&rdquo; asks Natalie Portman, with a laugh. We&rsquo;re discussing the new Miss Dior Essence perfume, which launches today, but when asked about the recent resurgence of more sensual scents&mdash;coming off the years-long popularity of muskier, woody fragrances&mdash;she&rsquo;s thinking more big-picture. &ldquo;You want to connect with someone else and enjoy the world and be in love with it,&rdquo; she tells&nbsp;L&rsquo;OFFICIEL. &ldquo;I think that's what we're all looking for.&rdquo;&nbsp;
For Portman, who&rsquo;s been the face of Miss Dior since 2011, the Francis Kurkdjian-created perfume&rsquo;s latest iteration&mdash;a <a href="https://www.dior.com/en_us/beauty/products/miss-dior-essence-Y0000088.html#0af44a7077816debd72c61551a">fruit-forward, intensely gourmand scent</a> with a higher concentration&mdash;embodies a sense of confident femininity with its notes of jasmine sambac, oak wood, blackberry jam, and elderflower. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s very romantic,&rdquo; says the actor, 44. &ldquo;The boldness of it inspires you to just be fearless, I think.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Portman, who&rsquo;s currently filming the Lena Dunham-helmed rom-com&nbsp;Good Sex, is never one to shy away from taking chances. Her resum&eacute; is stacked with everything from rom-coms to space epics, allowing her to embody characters that range from a ballerina gone mad (Black Swan) to Jacqueline Kennedy (Jackie) with ease. Her entire career, she believes, has been rooted in risk-taking. &ldquo;I think [I&rsquo;m a rebel] when it comes to a lot of things,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I mean, even choosing to be an actress when I was 11 years old was rebellious in some way. And I do think that there's a fearlessness of youth, where you're not self-conscious and you have to dive in.&rdquo;&nbsp;
She&rsquo;s continued to channel that audacious spirit throughout her career. &ldquo;As an actor, you have to do that a lot&mdash;because you can't be, like, embarrassed,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;You kind of have to just go full force and dive into the deep end every time.&rdquo; These days, when choosing her projects, Portman prioritizes her own interests, as well as those of her children (she shares a 14-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter with ex-husband Benjamin Millepied). That means dabbling in the animated world, voicing a character in Netflix&rsquo;s upcoming musical comedy The Twits and producing the sci-fi fantasy Arco with her production company, MountainA. &ldquo;I just make things that I hope they&rsquo;ll love,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I think I really just want to put a lot of joy and light into the world right now. I want to make things that bring my kids joy, that bring me joy, and that I think are full of positive energy to put out there.&rdquo;
Ahead, Portman opens up about her upcoming projects, her most powerful fragrance-fueled memories, and her excitement about Dior's next chapter with Jonathan Anderson at the helm.

Photo by Zoe Natale Mannella for Christian Dior Parfums, courtesy of Christian Dior Parfums

L&rsquo;OFFICIEL: You&rsquo;ve been working with Dior for well over a decade now. What's your favorite thing about the label?
NATALIE PORTMAN: Well, it's such an incredible brand to work with. The people are wonderful. They collaborate with such incredible artists. Working with [former Creative Director] Maria Grazia Chiuri the past nine years has really been a dream, and now Jonathan Anderson is an exciting new voice that they&rsquo;re collaborating with [since his appointment as Creative Director in June]. And I feel very lucky to be part of this family.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: The original Miss Dior fragrance launched in 1947, celebrating &ldquo;a return to triumphant femininity&rdquo; after World War II. How do you think the newest iteration of the fragrance embodies that same hopeful spirit?
NP: I think it&rsquo;s just a reminder of the beauty of the world, and of nature. It's kind of capturing a moment in time where the flowers are blossoming. And what better moment in time can you capture, to remember that such beauty exists and should be held onto?&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: In your eyes, who is the modern Miss Dior? What kind of woman is she?&nbsp;
NP: I think she's very courageous and daring. And also, very in love with love.&nbsp;

Photo by Mikael Jansson for Christian Dior Parfums, courtesy of Christian Dior Parfums.

L&rsquo;O: The Miss Dior Essence bottle of stands out from the others in the collection, featuring a black bow as opposed to the other fragrances' standard silver. Do you think the scent itself is drastically different?&nbsp;
NP: Yeah, I think that the notes&mdash;of the fruits and the woodiness and the florals&mdash;are so concentrated that it really is a very bold scent, while still being very feminine. I feel like it's an everyday scent. I want to be bold and sensual every day when I&rsquo;m out in the world.
L&rsquo;O: Speaking of being out in the world, you shot the campaign in Paris, where you currently live. What do you love most about being there?&nbsp;
NP: We had such incredible locations&mdash;to be on the roof of the Ch&acirc;telet and in the National French Library, which is so gorgeous, was really magical. And Paris is just an incredible city. I have friends I love here. There's so much art, and it's a place that embodies freedom, ideas, and literature. And it's obviously very beautiful.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: Scents can also be very nostalgic. What's your first fragrance memory, or your strongest?&nbsp;
NP: I think that scent is so provocative for memory. I really remember being in citrus groves as a kid, and the orange blossoms and lemon blossoms just being everywhere. I also remember spending time in North Africa, and Morocco, and Tunisia in my 20s, and smelling the jasmine in the markets&mdash;and in children's hands, coming up to you with jasmine wreaths. Those are very important fragrance memories.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: What does happiness smell like to you these days?
NP: My kids. I feel like your own kids have their very own smell for you. It's like animalistic or something, where you just know where they are in the house. You just are so connected to them.&nbsp;

L&rsquo;O: Did motherhood change your fragrance preferences at all?&nbsp;
NP: I had a much, much stronger sense of smell when I was pregnant. For sure.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: Do you ever use scent as a way to get into character for a role?&nbsp;
NP: Sometimes. I have definitely used different candles or incense or perfumes for different characters, for sure.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: Of the women you've played, who do you think would smell the best?
NP: Queen Amidala [from the Star Wars trilogy]. When you're in a galaxy far, far away, you probably just smell like roses all the time.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: I feel like Maddie Schwartz, your character in last year&rsquo;s Lady in the Lake, would smell really nice, too.&nbsp;
NP: Yes, that's true! Very true.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: Which character do you think would be most likely to wear Miss Dior Essence?&nbsp;
NP: Probably Jackie [O], or Queen Amidala. Both of them are very idealistic, strong, brave women. And also very feminine.&nbsp;

L&rsquo;O: You have plenty of new projects coming up. What are you most excited about?
NP: So many things. I have [the thriller] The Gallerist coming out, probably later this year or early next year, which was so fun to shoot with Cathy Yan directing. My company produced Arco, which is a great animated film by a first-time filmmaker, [Ugo Bienvenu]. There&rsquo;s another animated film that I'm very excited about called The Twits, which I did a voice for. That will be on Netflix and is based on a Roald Dahl book. And then this summer, we're shooting the romantic comedy Good Sex with Lena Dunham, which we're also producing. I'm very excited about that, too.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: Outside of work, what&rsquo;s keeping you inspired?&nbsp;
NP: My kids keep me inspired all the time. Nature always inspires me, and so does getting to see incredible art&mdash;whether it's movies, visual art, theater. Also, listening to music and reading literature.
L&rsquo;O: Have you read anything good lately?&nbsp;
NP: I read The Safekeep recently, by Yael van der Wouden. It's very, very beautiful fiction. And I really loved it.

Natalie Portman Is Here for the Sexy Perfume Renaissance

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