Natalie Portman Gives Birth, When Will She Return to the Spotlight?

Congratulations are in order for Natalie Portman and fiancé John Millepied. The couple welcomed a healthy baby boy to their family on June 14. It’s been a big year for Natalie – an Oscar, an engagement, and now a new role as mother. This new role may prove to be Natalie’s most challenging part yet, with middle of the night feedings, diaper changes, and a whole new way of life.

It remains to be seen how the birth of her baby will affect Natalie’s acting career. In fact, Natalie recently told PEOPLE, “I’ll be out of the public eye after the baby’s born.” This comment has left Portman fans despondent and out of sorts.

So when will Natalie Portman return to the silver screen?

To help predict what Natalie may do in the future, it seems only right to take a look at other famous Hollywood moms and see how soon it was after the birth of their babies that they returned to the movie scene.

Jennifer Garner
Jennifer has been wowing us since her Alias days. After her stint as Sydney on the hit TV show, she went on to star as leading lady in some big Hollywood hits including Daredevil, 13 Going on 30, and Juno. Then, in 2004, Jennifer met Ben Affleck and the two soon became parents to a beautiful baby girl, Violet. Just four years later, Violet became a big sister when Seraphina entered the family.

Being a mother is certainly Jennifer’s main gig nowdays, but she does still act and has found a successful career, even with children in tow. Besides her Neutorgena commercials, Jennifer has starred on Broadway, and even come back to the big screen. In fact, just one year after Violet was born, Jennifer was starring in Catch & Release. A year later, she was magnificent in Juno. Many thought Jennifer would slow down after the 2009 birth of Seraphina, but not so. In 2010, Jennifer was one of the main stars in Valentine’s Day. This year, audiences will catch her in Butter and Arthur.

Kate Winslet
Movie goers have been smitten with Kate since her days alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Titantic. When it comes to Hollywood moms, Kate is certainly one who tops the list. She is the mother to two children – a daughter and a son. Daughter Mia was born in 2000 and son Joe was born in 2003. Kate has been busy raising her two children ever since, but motherhood certainly never stood in the way of Kate’s blooming Hollywood career.

In 2001, just one year after Mia was born, Kate starred in three movies: Enigma, Christmas Carol: The Movie, and Iris. In fact, motherhood hasn’t slowed Kate down even a little bit – she’s had a movie out nearly every year since the birth of Mia.

Reese Witherspoon
Film enthusiasts absolutely adore Reese Witherspoon! With her impeccable style and her sweet personality, it’s hard not to love her. And surely nobody loves darling Reese more than her beautiful children–daughter Ava (born in 1999) and son Deacon (born in 2003). She tries to spend as much time as possible with her little brood, but that hasn’t stopped her for being one of the best loved actresses in the world.
In fact, Reese’s biggest film, Legally Blonde, came out just two years after Ava entered the world. The 2001 hit movie put Reese on the Hollywood map, even though she’d been in multiple films before then. After Legally Blonde, Reese went on to star in fan favorites like Walk the Line, Penelope, and newly-released Water for Elephants.

Reese may tell the public that being a mother is her most proud role, but we’re certainly grateful Reese made such a big come back to the movie scene just a short two years after her first baby was born.

Angelina Jolie
Certainly a list of Hollywood moms would be incomplete without Angelina Jolie. Mother to six, Jolie does not let motherhood slow her down. Her first son, Maddox, was adopted in 2002 when he was just seven months old. Three years later, she adopted Zahara and Maddox became a big brother. One year later, Angelina and partner Brad Pitt welcomed daughter Shiloh. Two years later in 2007, Pax was adopted. And finally, in 2008, Angelina gave birth to twins, Knox Léon and Vivienne. It would seem the past decade has been full of children for Angelina and there would be no time left for a career. Not so.

Despite her desire to be a mother and grow her family, Angelina continued to be a big on-screen star. In 2003, when Maddox was still very young, Angelina starred in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. In 2004, she was in five movies, including The Fever, Sky Captain and the World Tomorrow, and Alexander. In 2005, she co-starred in Mr. and Mrs. Smith ¬– where she subsequently met her current partner, Brad Pitt. In 2006, after the birth of Shiloh, Angelina starred in The Good Shepherd. And with each child since, Angelina has continued to be a working mom, doing some of her best films to date.
So what does all of this indicate?

If you use these other Hollywood mothers as references, we are left with a pretty good prediction as to when Portman will return to the big screen. Jennifer and Kate both returned to the big screen one year after giving birth to their first child–Jennifer to a romantic comedy and Kate to a drama. Reese took a bit longer–returning to star in a romantic comedy two years after giving birth while Angelina jumped right back to work starring in a dramatic action film just six months after labor.

So if you do the math–1+1+2+.5/4–Portman will star in her next movie in about 11 months and has a 50/50 chance of starring in either a romantic comedy or a drama. So we’ll either see Black Swan 2: The New Face of Perfection, or something more along the lines of Your Highness.

We certainly wish Natalie and Benjamin the best with their new bundle of joy, but for those of us who are big Natalie Portman fans, we hope the wait to see her on the big screen won’t be too long after all.

This guest post is by Edwin Daniels who blogs at USdish. You can also follow him on Twitter: @Edandish.

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Images via Fame Pictures