Natalie Portman Explains Why She Rewrote Classic Fairy Tales: "Princess Stories Are Really Problematic"

Natalie Portman thinks classic fables are “really problematic”.

In October, the 39-year-old actress released a children’s picture book titled Natalie Portman’s Fables, which retells the classic stories of The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs, and Country Mouse and City Mouse.

Speaking on the Australian talk show The Project, she said: “I started noticing that the characters in all of these classic stories were predominantly male, and I wanted to keep the stories alive for her.

“I think they’re so wonderful and I want her to know the classics, but I also wanted her to have a reflection of the world that is more accurate.”

Show host Lisa Wilkinson then revealed she hasn’t read Cinderella to her own daughter, and Natalie – who has Amalia, as well as nine-year-old son Aleph, with her husband Benjamin Millepied - agreed with the idea, saying that many of the classic Princess stories are “problematic” by today’s standards.

She added: “All those kind of princess stories are really problematic. You have to fit into the shoe and only one person can fit into a shoe, but [the prince] doesn’t remember the face of the girl he was dancing with last night. Like, it also doesn’t make sense on top of being very offensive!”

Natalie, who's currently filming Thor: Love and Thunder in Sydney, isn’t the only star to find fault with classic children’s stories. Her Star Wars: The Phantom Menace co-star Keira Knightley also previously said she had banned her daughter from watching Disney princess films because they suggest women are nothing without their Prince Charming.

She said in 2019: "'Cinderella, banned because she waits around for a rich guy to rescue her. Don't. Rescue yourself, obviously. And this is the one that I'm quite annoyed about because I really like the film, but ... Little Mermaid. I mean, the songs are great but do not give your voice up for a man. Hello!"

However, Keira later lifted her ban, and admitted her children — Edie, five, and Delilah, 14 months — have now seen all the popular flicks.

She explained: "[Edie has] watched all of them now. When we watched Sleeping Beauty', she said, 'It's not okay, that man kissed her without her permission!'

"I can't tell you how pleased I was. If I don't do anything else, I've managed to drum that in!"— BANG

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos