Natalie Portman leaves her starring role on Broadway in "The Diary of Anne Frank" at the end of the month to pursue a burgeoning film career and attend college. But she said the stage experience playing Anne Frank, who perished in the Holocaust, will remain imprinted in her mind for a long time.

"One of the most painful things for me is that often, at the end of the show, I see a little kid in one of the front rows just crying uncontrollably," Ms. Portman said by telephone from her home on Long Island, N.Y., where she lives with her parents. "The more I lived with it every day, the more I realized there's no way I could feel what the real people felt, no way I can convey what they went through. It's something no one can fathom unless they actually lived through it." She paused. "The part is emotionally draining," she said.

"Of course there is, in the play, a lot of light moments and laughter," she added. "But the audience is reluctant to laugh."

The 16-year-old actress -- who was discovered several years ago by a Revlon scout at a Long Island pizza parlor -- is, most certainly, one of the most sought-after young stars in town. Next month she is set to start filming "Anywhere but Here," an adaptation of a novel by Mona Simpson about a mother (played by Susan Sarandon) and daughter who leave their family in Michigan and resettle in Beverly Hills.

She has already completed the first of the three "Star Wars" prequels for George Lucas, playing the mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. The highly anticipated "Star Wars" film will be released next May.

Ms. Portman said she was not too intimidated playing the "Star Wars" role. "Because I was born in Israel -- my father's an Israeli -- 'Star Wars' wasn't as iconic as it was in most American households," she said. "It's not as rooted in me personally as it is with a lot of American teen-agers. My friends made me realize what a big deal it was."

The actress is driven each night to New York City for "Anne Frank" by one of her parents. She attends high school during the day -- she declined to say where -- and often studies before the show and afterward. "I sleep very little," she said. Ms. Portman is planning to apply to several colleges.

Her average? 98.5. "I'm not the smartest. I'm near the top of the class," she said. "But I really work hard."