Natalie Portman, widely known for her role as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars franchise and her Academy Award-winning performance in “Black Swan,” recently dubbed her contribution to the beloved children’s series “Bluey” as “the most important one.”
Curious about how an American actress fits into an Australian cartoon? Portman narrates a nature documentary in the “Whale Watching” episode from Season 3, credited as “Whale Doco Narrator.”
In this episode, Bluey and Bingo want to play, but their parents are too tired. Mum is on the couch snacking while Dad lies facedown on the rug. The kids climb on Dad’s back for an imaginative tour. Eventually, they watch a whale documentary on TV, featuring Portman’s calming voice: “Whales travel extremely long distances into warm waters to have their babies. They stay with them all the way back to the colder waters. There’s nothing a whale mom wouldn’t do for her children.”
Feeling guilty after watching the show, Mum actively engages in pretend play with her kids.
Portman shared on TODAY with Hoda Kotb, “It’s a very important show for my family.” Portman, who shares two children with her ex-husband Benjamin Millepied—son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, 7—was promoting her new series on Apple TV, “Lady in the Lake.”
“I was really, really honored to get to be part of it,” she said about “Bluey.”
Hoda, also a fan, revealed “‘Bluey’ is such a hit in our house, too,” sharing that she raises two daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.
“It’s so wonderful,” Portman enthused. “It’s just … I don’t know. It’s just pure joy.”
“Which is something that we need,” Hoda agreed.
“Something we need,” Portman echoed.