Fact-Checking Natalie Portman's Nude Scenes: What Is Real, Cgi, or Body Doubles?
In 2011, Universal Pictures released the fantasy stoner comedy Your Highness. The film generated an unexpected wave of digital analysis when the initial theatrical trailer showed Portman’s warrior character, Isabel, wearing a revealing thong bikini bottom, while subsequent family-friendly marketing materials featured digital alterations covering her hips.
Audiences assumed Portman had performed the provocative lake-jumping sequence. She had not.
The jump into the freezing waters of Northern Ireland’s cast system was performed by a local university student and stand-in named Caroline Davis, who was paid roughly $400 for the day's stunt. When the trailer ran into MPAA rating issues, the studio applied digital paint to turn the thong into full-coverage swimwear. The debate surrounding the scene was disconnected from reality: fans were analyzing a digital modification of a hired stunt performer, entirely detached from Portman herself.
