David Letterman: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome eighth-grader Natalie Portman. Natalie, come on out...

[Band plays "Because the Night" by Bruce Springsteen. Natalie walks out, greets Dave, and sits down]

DL: Hi, Natalie. How are ya doing?

NP: Good. How are you?

DL: Nice to see you.

NP: Nice meeting you...

DL: Now, I understand you got out of school a little bit early to come and be on the program.

NP: Yeah...

DL: That's great, isn't it?

NP: I missed "Tech".

DL: What is "Tech"?

NP: "Technology".

DL: Technology? What kind of technology?

NP: We have to, uh, make cars out of a piece of wood, and I was about to drill a hole in my wood--and I was really scared, and I'm holding it? And they're like, "Will Natalie Portman please come to the front office for early dismissal." And I went YES!!

DL: So, when you say you're making cars, you're making, like for the family, you're building a car out of wood?

NP: [laughing] No, they're just sticks.

DL: Do you like that?

NP: No.

DL: Is there any way you could--do all kids like thirteen have to take this wood car-building class?

NP: Yes.

DL: Really! No kidding. What's your favorite class?

NP: Um...[long pause] Math.

DL: Are you good at math?

NP: [an even longer pause] Yeah, I guess so.

DL: Do you know anything about, like, algebra?

NP: That's what we're taking next.

DL: See, I never knew anything about algebra. I was just like, it didn't make any difference. I couldn't figure it out.

NP: And look where YOU are!

DL: Exactly!

[The audience laughs and cheers. Dave waves to the camera and Natalie gives a thumbs-up]

DL: You know, do you ever get a chance to watch this show? Do you ever stay up to see the show?

NP: Um...I usually watch on Friday nights, because...

DL: That's a good night to watch. We have a lot of fun on Fridays.

NP: Yeah. Because I can't, you know, wake up late for school or anything...

DL: Sure. Do your folks mind you staying up to watch?

NP: Yeah. [laughs]

DL: They don't like that.

NP: No.

DL: Are your parents in show business?

NP: No. My dad's an infertility specialist, and when I was little...[for some reason the audience starts laughing]...when I was little they asked me...

DL: [Dave gives the audience a stern look] Now, why do people giggle about that? You would think he's doing a lot of wonderful work for people, isn't he?

NP: Yeah, yeah, he's helping a lot of people, but, it's pretty funny cuz when I was in nursery school, the teachers asked me, y'know, what does your Dad do for a living?

DL: Yeah.

NP: So I said, he helps women get pregnant! [Giggles] They called my Mom and they were like, what EXACTLY does your husband do?? [Laughs]

[Dave laughs along. Rising laughter from the audience.]

DL: And that's why now they've got you building wooden cars.

NP: Exactly!

[Everybody laughs]

DL: Now, was I right when I said you got this movie as a result of kind of a nationwide, if not worldwide, talent search?

NP: Yeah, I think so. I'm not...

DL: This is your first movie.

NP: Yes.

DL: You'd never done any acting before this.

NP: I did, like, local theater and stuff.

DL: Yeah. And how did you get interested in acting, and at what age did that begin?

NP: Um...[thinking] That's a two-part question! [laughs]

DL: [Dave makes a face] We can have you back in "Tech" just like that!

NP: PLEASE, NO! [laughs]

DL: Okay, how old were you when you started?

NP: Um, well, when I was ten years old, after dance class I went to a pizza parlor? [Dave starts chuckling] And a guy from Revlon was there and he wanted me to model for Revlon. So he introduced me to modeling agents, and I told them I don't want to model, I want to act, so they introduced me to acting agents.

DL: Wow, that's amazing, isn't it? That's like a dream come true. That's like the American Dream!

NP: Uh, yeah, I guess so.

DL: No, I mean you're very lucky. You should never forget how lucky you've been. It's turned out very nicely for you. Okay, so then how did you get the part in this film?

NP: So, then I went to, like, my first audition--

DL: What did they have you do at the audition?

NP: Um, well, I just walked in, I went to the bathroom, and I came out. [after Dave reacts, Natalie realizes how that sounded and starts laughing] No, no, no...

DL: That's the strangest audition I've ever heard of in my entire life...

NP: No, in the bathroom, I had to go to the bathroom.

DL: Oh, I see. [Dave laughs]

NP: So I went to the bathroom and when I came out they're like, "You're too young. Go home." So I went home without reading or anything.

DL: Were you depressed about that? Were you saddened? [after Natalie makes a face] Not really, no.

NP: No big deal.

DL: You got to use the bathroom, what do you care? [audience laughs]

NP: So then they called me back again, and I read. And they called me back and I read on tape. And then they called me back to read the part.

DL: So you actually read part of the script. How was that, did that make you nervous? Do you remember the lines you had to read?

NP: Yeah.

DL: Yeah, what were they?

NP: There was a scene, she just comes back from grocery shopping and she sees her parents dead on the floor--

DL: She sees her parents dead on the floor?!

NP: Yeah...

DL: Oh, man, I wouldn't have let you do this movie. I wouldn't have let you do this.

NP: Awww...

DL: See, I think that's bad. Doesn't that give you the willies? Doesn't that give you the creeps?

NP: No, cuz after you see them lying on the floor with the fake blood all around, they get up and they're like "HI!"

DL: [laughs] So you're okay with that.

NP: Yeah, I'm okay.

DL: Uh, and then you got the part and you do the movie, and now you travel all over the world to the premieres. You went to the premiere in Los Angeles, premiere in Paris...how did that go? Was it fun?

NP: In Paris I fell asleep in the movie cuz it was my fifth time seeing it? And I'm sitting there sleeping and the director's next to me and he says "Natalie! Wake up!" and he woke me up. And it was just before the movie was over, and so they turn on the lights and we stood up in front and everyone was applauding. And so I go like this [rubs eyes] because I just woke up, and everyone came up to me like, "Are you okay? Are you crying?" And I'm like, "No! I just woke up!" [laughter]

DL: And did that get you in trouble, because people think you were sleeping in the movie?

NP: Yeah...[laughs]

DL: Did the director get upset about that?

NP: Um...kind of. Yeah.

DL: What did he say?

NP: Uh...[in a gruff French voice] "Nat-a-lie!! Stop sleeping during the movie! !" [laughter]

DL: Does he have an accent?

NP: Yeah...[everyone laughs]

DL: Wheee...so what are you going to do? Are you going to stick around town, go dinner, go to a show, or do you have to go right home?

NP: No, I have a test.

DL: You've got to study. How are your grades? You're doing pretty well?

NP: Yeah.

DL: Now, don't let the acting interfere with your grades, alright?

NP: [in a funny voice] I won't, Dave! [audience laughs]

DL: Very good attitude. Nice to meet you, Natalie...[to audience] We'll be right back with Luther Vandross...