Cameo: Actress Natalie Portman

At thirteen, Natalie Portman is making her movie debut in a brutally violent R -rated thriller from La Femme Nikita's Luc Besson--and she carries the film. The thing she's most scared about? Going back to school. "I think school is so much harder than real life," says Portman, nervously shifting around in a big pair of overalls. "People are so much more accepting when they are adults."

Sure we've seen her story before: Pretty young girl is spotted at a Long Island, New York, pizza joint and is whisked away to child modeldom--and eventually, teen stardom. But this isn't some kid getting her break on Saved By The Bell. In The Professional, Portman must fall in love with her eccentric and ultralethal next-door neighbor, who trains her to be an assassin like himself. Needless to say, her parents had some reservations. Besson asked her folks to read the script. They told him what they felt comfortable letting their daughter do, and adjustments were made.

The idea of people seeing her play an apprentice "cleaner"--the movie's lingo for hit man--still gives Portman pause. "Especially if they know me," she says, eyes widening. "That'd be, like, 'Okay, stay away from me!'" Her performance is convincing enough--it helps being tutored by costars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and Danny Aiello. Says Portman: "Danny told me, 'Don't do television!'"

Local Hero

While shooting in Spanish Harlem, Portman needed to take a shower to clean off some fake dirt and blood. One of the PA's, who was a neighborhood kid, took her to his apartment. "It was this little one-bedroom and a whole big family was living there," says Portman. "They let me shower and they cooked us dinner. They were great."