Why Fans Think Natalie Portman Inspired Rachel Cusk’s Life of M

Though there’s no evidence of a close bond between the author and her rumored subject, now expecting her third child with French musician Tanguy Destable, pop culture critic Hunter Harris wrote a Substack piece asking, “Does Natalie Portman Have a Bad Art Friend?” 

Meanwhile, in her review, Valerie Stivers wrote, “Natalie Portman has long seemed more like a person who wants to brand herself as smart than like a person who is actually smart—and her decision to let her friend Rachel Cusk write a book about her seems to confirm this.” 

The larger issue, however, is that it doesn’t appear the Harvard grad, 45, signed off on all this song and dance, with anonymous insiders telling the Daily Mail she’s less-than-pleased with both the account and the idea that she cooperated. 

Another source noted to The Hollywood Reporter that while the character is undeniably meant to be Portman, “M bears zero resemblance to the person of Natalie Portman. If you asked anybody who knows her they’d say the same.”