Natalie Portman, a 2003 graduate of Harvard, was the keynote speaker at Harvard College's Class Day on Wednesday.
In high school, she was voted most likely to be a contestant on "Jeopardy," which Portman said was "code for nerdy." But when Portman came to Harvard, after the 1999 release of "Star Wars: Episode I" that she starred in, she was worried she'd be viewed as unworthy and only gotten in because of her fame.
"I got in only because I was famous -- this is how others viewed me and how I viewed myself," Portman admitted. Portman said she would have some "pretty dark moments" as a Harvard student.
"There were several occasions I started crying in meetings with professors, overwhelmed with what I was supposed to pull off when I could barely get out of bed in the morning," she recounted.
But Portman said she learned to find her own meaning and not have her success determined by box office receipts.
The actress learned as she studied for her role in "Black Swan" that "the only thing that separates you from others is your quirks, or even flaws."