InStyle Has Landed in #TIFF15: We're Off to a Beautiful Start with Natalie Portman

The 2015 Toronto International Film Festival officially kicked off Sept. 10, and Team InStyle is up north to bring you all the action! We teamed up with our sister publications People and Entertainment Weekly to build a pop-up portrait studio in the heart of downtown Toronto, where we’re interviewing and photographing all the biggest stars of the fest.

Natalie Portman—in Dior—was the first to swing by yesterday to give us the lowdown on A Tale of Love and Darkness, her directorial debut adapted from the award-winning book by Amos Oz. She also wrote the screenplay and starred in the film. “I chose this as my first film to adapt from the book and direct because it was the first time I envisioned an entire film in my head while I was reading a book,” she told InStyle.

This project is a decade in the making. “I started writing the screenplay 10 years ago, but I would write for a few months and put it away for a few years and then go back to it,” she said, and her Israeli background also was a factor. “It did have so many personal resonance with my own family mythology that I grew up with.”

As for directing—which she did in Hebrew on the set—she felt it was a rewarding experience. “It was really meaningful as an actor to get the experience of being a director,” she said. “I really understood what a director was looking for. To create your own vision, to realize your own vision, and to have people generously help you elicit the performances you want is a little tricky.” But she certainly can be a killer #GirlBoss. “The way I am on set, I felt like a party host,” she said. “You’re just trying to make sure everyone knows what the party’s about and dancing to the beat and happy and well taken care of. That felt like my role on set.”

Watch Natalie Portman share the experience of making A Tale of Love and Darkness here:

Stay tuned to InStyle.com for more updates straight from #TIFF15.