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Natalie Portman: What she said in her Harvard commencement speech

Portman said of her time making the movie 'Black Swan,' which won her a Best Actress Oscar, 'If I had known my own limitations, I never would have taken the risk. And the risk led to one of my greatest personal and professional achievements.'

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Steven Senne/AP
Natalie Portman addresses an audience during Harvard College's Class Day on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass.
  • By Associated Press

Natalie Portman advised graduating Harvard seniors Wednesday to use their inexperience to their advantage, saying she has learned that taking calculated risks can lead to life-changing rewards.

The Academy Award-winning actress, speaking at Harvard College's Class Day, cited her work in "Black Swan" as an example of a time she didn't know her own limitations – and it paid off.

Portman, who won an Oscar for best actress in the 2010 film, said she might not have taken the role if she had known how "woefully unprepared" she was to pull off the movie's ballet moves.

"The point is, if I had known my own limitations, I never would have taken the risk," she said. "And the risk led to one of my greatest personal and professional achievements."

The 33-year-old actress also met her husband, choreographer Benjamin Millepied, on the set of the movie.

Portman, who graduated from Harvard in 2003 and starred in the most recent "Star Wars" movies, also cited another personal example: her first experience writing, directing, and acting in a movie. The film, "A Tale of Love and Darkness," recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

"Make use of the fact that you don't doubt yourself too much right now because, as we get older, we get more realistic," she told the graduating seniors. "Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset."

Portman's address was a highlight of Wednesday's events, which also included award presentations and student speeches. Harvard seniors receive their diplomas Thursday.

Harvard's tradition of inviting a guest speaker to address graduates the day before commencement began in 1968.

The first invited guest was civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. His wife, Coretta Scott King, delivered the speech after his assassination.

Last year, Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg delivered the address.

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