So this was how it happened.
I'd known Natalie for a few months, through a friend of a friend, you know how it is. After I moved to Los Angeles I found myself attending party after party filled with people just like me. That is, out of work actors/actresses waiting tables and cutting hair in between audition after useless audition. One night, I was at a typical gathering when I saw her across the other side of the pool. I nudged my buddy Keith;
'What the hell is she doing here?'
'I think she came with her brother. He knows whoever owns this house.' He looked away, his interest freshly sparked by the blonde girl who had just walked in front of us.
She was talking to another girl that I didn't recognise, and I swear she was more beautiful in the flesh than the times I had seen her on screen. Her jet black hair was pulled away from her face in a simple pony tail, and even from a distance I could see her green eyes shining. She was dressed in jeans and a white shirt that hung loose over her butt. There was a bottle of beer in her hand and she looked liked she never had a care in the world. I couldn't stop staring at her, and when she turned her head after sensing me looking, and then smiled at me my guts churned. I think I probably fell for her in that moment. One thing was for sure; I had to go over and talk to her, or regret it for ever.
I ran my fingers through my too-long hair, took a deep breath and walked around the pool towards her. As I approached her I wondered how to play this. Did I go in arrogant or charming, shy or confident? I decided on a little of all of them.
Her friend had gone as I reached her, and her back was turned to me. I cleared my throat and spoke.
'Natalie?'
She turned quickly, hair whipping around her. Jesus, up close she was just so gorgeous, maybe too much. There wasn't a blemish on her skin, and her pink lips shone in the torchlights that had been placed around the pool.
'Natalie Portman?'
She nodded. 'That's me. Who are you?'
'You mean you don't know me?' Why the hell would she. I worked as a barman downtown and had been in one avant-garde production for two weeks in a theatre that had thirty seats and no heating. Still, I was gonna keep this tack up.
She frowned. 'Sorry, I don't think I do.'
'I'm Richard Edwards.'
She shook her head again. 'And you're Natalie Portman, both of us are great people who want each other, and that's what makes this so perfect.'
'Are you trying to pick me up?'
'Am I, you tell me.' I levelled what I hoped would be my best Tom Cruise grin at her. 'Do you want me to?'
Natalie burst out laughing and turned away. 'Forget it, you're a pompous jerk.' She strutted away towards the house, leaving me floudering like a fish out of water.
Fuck it. I chased after her and caught up as she was about to enter through a set of large french doors. 'Wait, please.' She stopped and I saw her sigh before turning towards me.
'What?'
This time I was myself, what did I have to lose? 'Look, I'm sorry. You're right, I was acting like a fool. That wasn't really me back there.'
'Wasn't it? Why act that way then?'
'Because I was afraid if I was myself you wouldn't be interested in talking to me.'
'Oh? And what are you?'
This time it was my turn to sigh. 'I'm just an out of work guy trying to make a name for himself in this town, just like a million others. I've got no money, I sleep on my friend's floor and I drive a Pinto with a broken clutch. Why would you want to talk to me.'
She remained silent, but her face softened. This was my last chance.
'You're successful, and I'm nothing. But when I saw you across the pool I couldn't stop looking at you. This isn't a line, but you are the most beautiful thing I've seen since I've been in L.A. and if I didn't try to talk to you I'd have been kicking myself forever.'
Her face broke and she smiled. 'So, why can't you guys be honest like that more often?'
I shrugged, dropping my eyes from her own. 'Maybe it's not in our genetic make-up.'
She took me by the wrist, small fingers soft and warm on my skin. 'Let's go inside and get a beer,' she said, 'it's getting cold out here...'
So that was how I came to meet and become friends with Natalie Portman. After my bout of ill-advised arrogance that evening we hit it off instantly, and I was drawn to her natural friendliness and confidence straight away. Los Angeles is a town full of sharks, everyone wants a piece of the pie and believe me, there is never enough to go around. People drift in and out of your life with monotonous regularity and ninety-nine percent of them are only interested in what they can take from you. With Natalie, I found an honest friend, someone who I trusted, and trust is a hard thing to recognise when you are not used to seeing it. Of course, I also desired her as more than a friend, but she let me know from the outset that she had a boyfriend and that was not going to change, all though she did find me attractive. As you'd imagine, that was frustrating for me at first, but soon I began to realise that her friendship was almost as good as a relationship. Perhaps more so, with all the problems that can arrise from being involved with somebody. Anyway, I needed to find work, not be bothered with other distractions.
As it happened, she helped me on the work front, and before you ask, I didn't use her influence. A casting director that she knew saw my (thin) resume at her appartment and called me, asked me to come over to the Television section of Universal and meet with him. Before I knew it I had regular work on a new show. Nothing major, only four or five lines a week, but the exposure was there for me and obviously the money was damn useful.