Natalie Portman on Why She Chooses Characters ‘Very Different’ from Her (Exclusive)

Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram are dishing on their new limited series “Lady in the Lake.”

“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with Natalie and Moses about the thriller, based on the novel by Laura Lippman, which focuses on an unsolved murder of the so-called Lady in the Lake, which pushes housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz to restart her life as an investigative journalist.

Natalie, who also executive produced the project, opened up about what drew her to the story how she learned the Baltimore accent to play Maddie.

Portman credited her dialect coach with helping her master the accent, saying, “We worked a lot on it because it’s very particular and it’s not super different than my own accent. It’s just certain words, like the Os, are very, very different.”

Natalie was introduced to the project by Nathan Ross and the late Jean-Marc Vallée, who wanted to connect her with the show’s creator, Alma Har'el. She said, “The first thing that excited me was Alma Har'el, who I’ve admired for so long and now having worked with her, just exceeded all of my already high expectations. The book I thought was so propulsive. Like, the story was so fascinating and gripping.”

When asked if she pulled from her personal life in any way to relate to her character, Portman commented, “I don’t really like to compare my own self to a character. I actually make a big effort to choose characters that have very different experiences.”

Natalie noted that she likes to “try things that I wouldn’t do in my own life.”

Moses discussed her “steadfast” character Cleo, who is motivated by her kids. She said, “Even when it gets hard, even when she’s forced to make decisions that a lot of people may not understand, but she has a why and that’s her kids, and that’s why she keeps moving.”

The series was filmed in Moses’ hometown of Baltimore. Moses said, “It’s so nice… There’s nothing like being in a place that knows you as well as you know it.”

The ladies also raved about the experience of working together! While their characters “don’t interreact that much” with each other, due to parallel storylines, they are “looking for the next thing” where they can share more scenes together!

While Moses is pinching herself that she got to work with the Natalie Portman, Natalie gushed, “She’s really such an extraordinary actress and is so honest with every choice she makes and so thoughtful and so just gorgeous to work with.”

“Lady in the Lake” premieres July 19 on AppleTV+.