Los Angeles, Feb 26 (IANS): Actress Natalie Portman said that acclaimed star Jodie Foster had once reached out to her after she got to know that Portman was 'sexualised as a young actor'.

The actress shared on an episode of the 'Smartless' podcast.

Jodie gained stardom at 12 when she was cast in filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s iconic film 'Taxi Driver' as a child sex worker.

Natalie, meanwhile, was just 11 when she was featured in 'Leon: The Professional', which served as her own acting breakthrough.

“I did a speech at a Women’s March about being sexualised as a young actress, and she reached out to me after that, and we talked and it was amazing,” Natalie said.

The actress added: “She’s still a role model.”

Natalie said that she learned at a young age to project a tough exterior on film sets to avoid sexualisation, reports variety.com.

“That kind of projection of seriousness protected me in a way,” she said.

“‘Cause I feel like it was almost a warning signal like, ‘Oh, don’t do shit to her.’ Not that anyone ever, you know, deserves it or is asking for it. But I felt like that was my unconscious way of doing it.”

Natalie, who studied psychology at Harvard University but never left acting fully behind, shared that her mother “was with me all the time and made sure that no one got near me” while working as a child actor. Then, “When I went to college, my dad was like, ‘Okay, that was cute. Time to move on. Let’s find another job -- a real job.’ ” .