Natalie Portman Asked Cate Blanchett For Parenting Advice

Natalie Portman looks stunning in a Prada dress on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine’s August 2015 issue.

Here’s what the 34-year-old actress had to share with the mag:

On balancing parenthood and her career: “Very early on, I asked [Cate Blanchett] about being a parent. I said ‘How do you do it? You’re a mom. You’re the best at what you do.’ She said, ‘You just do. Stressing about it doesn’t help.’ Most men I know are dealing with the same issues. They say they feel like if they work too hard they won’t have enough time with their families. Maybe those questions need to be asked of men, too. Maybe the men need better questions.”

On Hollywood’s focus on fashion and gender inequality: “I like to look at what people are wearing, but I do see the sexism in it. Yeah, you could reject it all, but I don’t know anyone who has done that and been able to maintain the level of work that I’d like to maintain.”

On her Israeli roots: “If you say, ‘I’m from Sweden,’ everyone says, ‘Cool.’ Then when you say, ‘I’m from Israel!’ everyone wants to have a 10-hour political conversation. Everyone has a very strong, very passionate opinion about it. But I’m grateful for it. I had so many friends who asked, when we were younger, ‘Who am I? What’s my identity?’ I never questioned my identity.”

For more from Natalie, visit HarpersBazaar.com.