Natalie Portman Takes on a Royal Role

Feb. 28, 2008 -- It is a tale of seduction, adultery, and murder, all played out in the garb of British royals before the backdrop of Henry VIII's Hampton Court.

These are the ingredients for Natalie Portman's latest role, playing Anne Boleyn in the royal drama "The Other Boleyn Girl." For the role, the Oscar-nominated Harvard alum became the fated Tudor queen whose grisly demise has long captured the historical imagination.

In an interview with Peter Travers for ABC News Now's "Popcorn," Portman explained that, at its most basic, "The Other Boleyn Girl" is the story of an ambitious young woman trying to "raise herself in power and position."

But the film, adapted from British novelist Philippa Gregory's best-selling fictional biography, delves deep into the personal sagas behind what Portman called "the great historical epic of Henry VIII."

Sisters 'Born to Be Rivals'

As in Gregory's novel, the central conflict unfolds around the story of two sisters and their rivalry. Anne Boleyn, the dark and calculating enchantress, finds her pursuit of the king thwarted only by the beautiful Mary Boleyn, her guileless younger sister whose fascination with the court lures her into Henry's bedroom.

Portman said she found a new set of challenges in the role of Anne Boleyn.

"The central question to trying to figure out any character is: Why do they do the things they do? How did they become the person they became?" Portman said.

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This was particularly important in playing Anne, she said, because the young woman is "cruel" and "calculating."

In the novel, Gregory portrays Anne as a monomaniacal figure who tramples family and scruples to get to the throne. But Portman found complexity within the character.

"I don't necessarily believe in just bad people," Portman said. "Every once in a while there is just a bad person, but that's not necessarily an interesting character.

"It's interesting to see sort of where she comes from and to see the family at the beginning, to see the values with which she's raised," she said.

To read Peter Travers' Rolling Stone Review of "The Other Boleyn Girl," please click here.