With Natalie Portman hosting “Saturday Night Live,” let’s revisit her greatest performance *ever* — “Natalie Raps”
On Wednesday, January 31st, Saturday Night Live released a killer promo celebrating Natalie Portman’s upcoming turn as host. It’s the first time she’s hosted in a long time, and we’ll be grateful to welcome her back to Studio 8H. Why? Because Natalie Portman’s all-time greatest performance was on SNL in a little sketch called “Natalie Raps.”
Early in The Lonely Island’s tenure at Saturday Night Live, they made a digital short starring Natalie Portman.
“Natalie Raps” begins as an interview between Portman and cast member Chris Parnell. It quickly devolves into an intense rap video, shot in black and white — and man,did it show the actress in a new light. In “Natalie Raps,” she spits violent rhymes, positing herself as an academic and sexual terror and general unsung badass. The sketch was bizarre, unexpected, and incredible. Also, it shows a young Andy Samberg dressed as a Viking for reasons that are not explained, but we’re not about to fight that, you know?
All things considered, the best part of “Natalie Raps” has to be its surprise factor.
Nowadays, Natalie Portman has acted for more than 20 years. She has a beautiful family, and an Academy Award for Black Swan. Back in 2006, though, she jokingly chafed against her “good girl” image on SNL. The Harvard grad rapped angrily about making trouble in college and threatened guys who pissed her off. It’s all beautiful to behold, really. Also impressive? Parnell doesn’t crack at all. In fact, he only makes one mistake the entire time, and that’s better left as a surprise (if you haven’t seen the viddy, or don’t recall).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A0iftflme4?feature=oembed
Natalie Portman’s performance in “Natalie Raps” is so good, it even made it onto The Lonely Island’s 2009 musical-comedy album Incredibad. Now, enjoy this throwback, which is now almost 12 years old?! The lyrics are decidedly NSFW though, so you’ll definitely want to grab your headphones first.
