Natalie Portman has opened up about playing Jacqueline Kennedy for Pablo Larraín's upcoming biopic drama 'Jackie', which explores the life of this popular First Lady in the weeks and months following the tragic assassination of her husband President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

JackieNatalie Portman stars in 'Jackie'

It's one of the most memorable events in American history; a well-liked young President shot dead while riding a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, leaving behind a First Lady who had cemented herself as more than just a style icon and a social butterfly, but as a symbol of grace and decency. But as much as she was apotheosized by the American people, she remained by and large an ordinary woman whose life was changed forever by an extreme grief that affected the nation.

Playing the First Lady is Natalie Portman, who thinks that the best thing that could've happened to this movie was the involvement of Chilean movie director Pablo Larraín, whose films include the Alfredo Castro movies 'Neruda', 'The Club', 'Post Mortem' and 'No'. Natalie believes that his foreign objectivity towards the story made it more effective than if it were to be explored by a biased American.

Watch the trailer for 'Jackie' here:


 

'When Pablo Larraín came on as the director, that's what really excited me because then I saw that there would be a very unconventional path to examine her', she said of signing on to play Jackie. 'He didn't have these preconceptions and the overly reverent stance that maybe some Americans would have about Jackie that would really allow us to look at her humanity.'

She explains that the movie is supposed to give viewers an ambiguous profile of an extraordinary woman who, despite what her admirers would say, was ultimately flawed like any other person. 'The beauty of the film is that it doesn't tell you what you're supposed to think or feel, at the end of the day, about this woman', she adds. 'It presents a portrait, that's quite complex, of a human being that has many different sides to it and a lot of mystery still.'

'Jackie' is set for US release on December 2nd 2016.