Israeli born Oscar winning actress Natalie Portman gave a eulogy of Mike Nichols, of sorts, in a statement which she released to E saying that the director “saved” her.
Long before she was famous and still a teenager, the star of Black Swan was directed on stage by Nichols in a production of Chekhov’s The Seagull. In 2004, eight years before she would win an Oscar, Nichols also directed Portman in the movie Closer with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.
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Famously, Nichols agreed not to make Portman go ahead with a nude scene in that film in spite of the fact that it was in the screenplay and the original stage play on which the movie was based.
Portman’s statement to E included,
“There’s nothing good enough I can write that would do Mike justice. He was the one who had the best words, the right hug for hard times, the funny comment to diffuse your pain. He saved me again and again. He was the best way to be a person and an artist. And the most, most fun. I send my deepest love to Diane, Jenny, Max, Daisy and their children, who filled his days with light.”
