--- ---  # Natalie Portman Slams Lack of Hollywood Diversity: 'Movies Are All About White Men'  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 28, 2016 8:22 PM UTC  Actress Natalie Portman attends the premiere of 'Jackie' at AFI Fest 2016, presented by Audi at TCL Chinese Theatre on November 14, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Actress Natalie Portman attends the premiere of 'Jackie' at AFI Fest 2016, presented by Audi at TCL Chinese Theatre on November 14, 2016 in Hollywood, California.Tara Ziemba/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 28, 2016 8:22 PM UTC [Natalie Portman](http://time.com/4574503/natalie-portman/) may be playing [Jacqueline Kennedy](http://100photos.time.com/photos/ron-galella-windblown-jackie) — one of the most iconic women in American history — in [_Jackie_](http://time.com/4520022/natalie-portman-jackie-trailer/), but that doesn’t mean she isn’t [going to speak out about underwritten female roles](http://time.com/4192594/hollywood-diversity-problem-oscars-academy-awards/). During a recent[ interview with _Vulture_](http://www.vulture.com/2016/11/natalie-portman-jackie-kennedy-c-v-r.html), the 35-year-old Oscar winner spoke about the lack of meaty parts for actresses in modern film, noting that — in her opinion — movies from the ’50s and ’60s were rife with strong female roles. “Even if they’ll make the occasional sexist comment, they still have a central woman character who has a personality,” she said. “Now I feel like movies are all about white men and then you get a couple that happen to be about women.” Portman went on to speak about playing a younger Ruth Bader Ginsberg in the upcoming biopic _On the Basis of Sex_, explaining that the project was put on hold until the right female director was found. “With the issues of gender discrimination in Hollywood right now, how could we not do that?,” she said. Read more at [Vulture.com](http://www.vulture.com/2016/11/natalie-portman-jackie-kennedy-c-v-r.html). Natalie Portman: "Movies Are All About White Men" ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4583797/natalie-portman-hollwood-diversity-white-men/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4583797/natalie-portman-hollwood-diversity-white-men/"},"headline":"Natalie Portman Slams Lack of Hollywood Diversity: 'Movies Are All About White Men'","datePublished":"2016-11-28T20:22:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:58.271Z","description":"\"There are not great female roles that are just flourishing\"","url":"https://time.com/4583797/natalie-portman-hollwood-diversity-white-men/","keywords":["movies","Newsfeed","Diversity","actresses","natalie portman"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68f8f11686cc7d6/6988afd4cf40a89a5cc45b2c/natalie-portman-jackie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte68f8f11686cc7d6/6988afd4cf40a89a5cc45b2c/natalie-portman-jackie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AFI FEST 2016 Presented By Audi - Centerpiece Gala - Screening Of Fox Searchlight Pictures' \"Jackie\" - Arrivals","caption":"Actress Natalie Portman attends the premiere of 'Jackie' at AFI Fest 2016, presented by Audi at TCL Chinese Theatre on November 14, 2016 in Hollywood, California.","creditText":"Tara Ziemba/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4583797/natalie-portman-hollwood-diversity-white-men/","name":"Natalie Portman Slams Lack of Hollywood Diversity: 'Movies Are All About White Men'"}}]}] ```