Natalie Portman's toes are being rubbed while her mouth is painted pink by Jeanine Lobell, the makeup artist who has decorated Portman's perfect face since her prom. Portman is talking about a party she went to in Hollywood the previous night. "They had a psychic, and he told me my whole life will change when I'm 34," she says, "and that I should stay away from water." (Her apartment in Greenwich Village is, in fact, on the Hudson River.)

But Portman, 26, has never been one to take advice from strangers.

Read ELLE's cover story interview with Natalie Portman.

View behind-the-scenes video of Natalie Portman's cover shoot.