In the 1990s, Julia Stiles auditioned against Natalie Portman and was starstruck! She was already very well-known

In the 1990s, Julia Stiles auditioned against Natalie Portman and was starstruck! She was already very well-known

The iconic kid of the 1990s had an impressive network of well-known friends and random meetings.

In the 1990s, Julia Stiles met a lot of other well-known actors, but she remembers one particular interaction.

“I do remember being really starstruck when I saw Natalie Portman and thinking, ‘Oh, I’m never going to get this job,'” the director of Wish You Were Here admitted to PEOPLE in a 2021 episode of the PEOPLE in the ’90s podcast. “She was already very well-known.”

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Stiles, now 43, was a teenage actor in New York City at the time, trying out for parts. In 1999, when she was featured on the cover of Teen PEOPLE as one of the “21 Hottest Stars Under 21,” the 18-year-old was living with her parents.

She was listed with other ’90s celebrities like Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, and Justin Timberlake.The Jason Bourne actress stated, “I was trying out in New York, which is a somewhat smaller group.” Regarding some of the other celebrities on the Teen PEOPLE list with her, she continued, “LeAnn Rimes, Josh Hartnett, and Michelle Williams, they probably all were in L.A.”

However, Stiles was friends with a number of East Coast potential megastars.

Stiles remembered, “I transferred to a performing arts school my senior year of high school, and Christina Ricci was there.”

As the aspiring actress kept working and booking gigs, her network of well-known friends expanded.