Natalie Portman has seen the light at the end of the tunnel!
After coming to the conclusion that her and Benjamin Millepied's marriage couldn't be saved following his alleged affair, the actress finalized their divorce this past March. And though it took some time, a source said the mom-of-two now feels fully healed from the heartbreak.
"Natalie is her confident self [again]," the source told a magazine, adding that Portman, 42, seems to have "a lighter step" and "more joy" in her eyes since the break-up. “She’s really coming into her own self-happiness.”
Last month, the Oscar winner was seen laughing up a storm while smoking a cigarette with actor Paul Mescal, 28, in London, but an insider claimed the two were just friends, as she's not quite ready to date again.
"She’s focused on her kids [son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, 7] and work for now, [but] Natalie has started going out with friends and living her best life," the source explained, referring to the two children she co-parents with Millepied, 46.
"It took her a while to get her smile back after the divorce, but she has turned a corner," the insider raved.
As OK! shared, reports surfaced in the summer of 2023 that Millepied was with a much younger woman and climate activist Camille Etienne, who was 25 at the time. A source told a news outlet the two met "through mutual friends" in "a cliquey group in the film community who favor art and creativity over big-budget box office bonanzas."
"It was short-lived and it is over. He knows he made an enormous mistake and he is doing all he can to get Natalie to forgive him and keep their family together," the insider said of the tryst.
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The private pair's status remained murky, but two months after the news broke, the Star Wars alum was seen without her wedding ring.
"Deciding to take the ring off was a huge decision," another insider pointed out. "Natalie tried to forgive Benjamin, to look at all sides of the situation. She considered every way to salvage the marriage, but she realized it would never be the same, because the betrayal was too deep."
One month before the split was finalized, Portman was still keeping mum on the scandal.
"It’s terrible, and I have no desire to contribute to it," she replied when a reporter asked her about the gossip while she was promoting her movie May-December.
Us Weekly reported on Portman feeling confident again.