She is well-adjusted, high-minded and really good at keeping secrets. When most kids are hanging out at malls, 16-year-old Natalie Portman is about to make her Broadway debut in 'Diary of Anne Frank'--and enter action-figure history with the next 'Star Wars'.

If Natalie Portman won't tell you her real name, forgive her: The stage moniker is supposed to help protect the actress from the pitfalls that have plagued other child stars. It's also supposed to enable her to lead the life of a "normal" Long Island 16-year-old. Certainly her weekdays begin that way: She attends a public high school, where she spends mornings worrying about physics tests and history essays. But after lunch, a driver whisks her away to Manhattan, where she becomes...Natalie Portman.

Discovered by a Revlon scout in a Long Island pizza parlor, Portman first hit the screen at age 11 in Luc Besson's 'The Professional' (1994). Since then, she's stolen Timothy Hutton's heart in 'Beautiful Girls', sung for Woody Allen in 'Everyone Says I Love You' and helped save the nation as the First Daughter in 'Mars Attacks!'" Soon, she may help save the entire galaxy as the Young Queen (wife of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and mother of Luke and Leia) in the much -anticipated, top-secret 'Star Wars' prequel due out in summer 1999.

Portman is embarking on a stage career as well: This afternoon, she's rehearsing for her Broadway debut in the revival of 'The Diary of Anne Frank'. When the other actors take a break, Portman and a tutor attack advanced-Japanese assignments. And when the other actors head home, Portman meets the press: At 9 PM, she arrives at Joe Allen's, wearing a Beatles T-shirt and jeans, and carrying what has to be the world's largest backpack. As she chats over potato-leek soup, Portman is terribly serious--much more like an honors student and doctor's daughter (she's both) than like a member of Hollywood's young elite.

Time Out New York: I noticed you scanned the menu for the meat-free items. How long have you been a vegetarian?

Natalie Portman: When I was 8 or 9, I stopped eating meat, and then when I was 10 or 11, I stopped eating fish, too. About two years ago, I stopped eating gelatin, and then, just recently, I stopped eating cheese when I'm out of the house, because it can have the animal enzyme rennin in it.

TONY: What inspired you, at eight years old, to stop eating meat?

NP: I went to a medical conference with my dad where they were demonstrating laser surgery on a chicken. I think at that point I made the connection that animals were killed for meat. I had always kind of thought that animals died and then we ate them. At first, my parents thought it was just a phase.

TONY: How much time did you spend shooting the the first 'Star Wars' prequel in London?

NP: The whole summer. Well, actually, I went out there in the middle of June, then in the middle of July we went to Italy for two weeks and to Tunisia for three weeks, then back to London.

TONY: Did you like London?

NP: The first month, before I'd met anyone from the movie and before we went to Italy, it rained every day, and I'm not exaggerating! Then I didn't have my friends there--I had my mom with me, and I really love her, but it's not the same, especially when you know your friends are together back home. But as soon as my friends came over, it was the coolest place on earth, because you can just sit in a room and have a good time, you know?

TONY: Are there other actors in the film who are your age?

NP: There is an eight-year-old actor who plays the young Darth Vader. George [Lucas] was able to have his kids with him on the set too.

TONY: What else can you tell us about it?

NP: I can tell you Ewan McGregor is in it. That's pretty much it.

TONY: Did you have a hard time understanding his Scottish accent?

NP: No. I think he has an English accent now.

TONY: What accent does your character have?

NP: I don't know. [Laughs nervously]

TONY: It's all such a big secret--are you good at keeping secrets?

NP: I am when I know that ninjas will show up at my door to get me afterwards!

TONY: Okay, let's talk about the revival of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' on Broadway. I heard that you were anxious about memorizing all of your lines.

NP: Well, we rehearse a lot. But I'm still nervous, because I've never really been on a professional stage, and I'm scared that I'll get stage fright. I've got fright of stage fright. I went to temple for Yom Kippur, and my father and I were called up to open the ark, and I was shaking. I couldn't stand being up there with all those people looking at me! But I think it's different when you're playing a character and it's not you.

TONY: 'Anne Frank' first ran on Broadway in 1955. Has this version been updated?

NP: There are a few new scenes from the original diary, and the writer has slightly modified the dialogue to sound more natural, less stagey and less melodramatic. The original is really an excellent play, and basically it's the same structure.

TONY: Last year, a film called 'Anne Frank Remembered' gave people a less saintly view of Anne Frank. There's some controversy surrounding both this and the fact that her diaries were edited.

NP: I think to make a saint out of any human being is wrong. Although she was an incredibly talented person and a really good person, she was a real person--and you can't forget that.

TONY: How old were you when you first read 'The Diary of Anne Frank'?

NP: I was 12. I was reading it while I was making 'The Professional'. My dad had been wanting me to read it, because it was one of his favorite books while growing up. We went to visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and I picked up a copy there.

TONY: What struck you most about it?

NP: That her experiences--well, her general experiences, obviously not anything that happened to her because she was Jewish at that time, but with her friends and with her family--were just like any teenager's. I think it's every teenager's nightmare to be trapped with your parents and people you don't like who are always putting you down and scolding you.

TONY: Do you keep a journal?

NP: I do at certain points in my life, like those few weeks when I was in London and I was miserable. I read it the other night, and it was so depressing! I also wrote in a journal the entire time I was shooting my first film, but I don't know where it is. Maybe someone stole it and is going to blackmail me with it later on?

TONY: If that diary were published, would you be proud of what you wrote?

NP: I wouldn't want my diary published. But it's different with Anne Frank, because she says in her diary that after the war, she wants to publish it. I would certainly let my diary be published after I edited it. She heard on the radio that they wanted diaries, so she edited the whole diary. Have you ever seen the critical edition? It has the three editions: her original, one with her edits, then one with [her father] Otto's edits. Sure if I edited it, I'd be very proud to have it published. But it's different if you're writing to be published or if you're just scribbling down stuff to get it out of your head.

TONY: Have you thought about what it means to have to perform this show six days a week for the entire run?

NP: Well, one good thing about doing a show like this is, it puts everything in your life into perspective. All the things that seem like traumas in your life suddenly seem pretty trivial. But it's going to be tough, because it's a very emotional play.

TONY: It's very near Hanukkah. What kind of presents are you hoping to get this year?

NP: Well, presents aren't traditionally a big part of Hanukkah. It was mainly motivated by assimilation and Jewish kids wanting presents at Christmastime, too. For me, Hanukkah is about getting together with all of my family, which is really fun. There are presents, but at first my dad was really against it because he never got presents growing up in Israel. Then he slowly came around to thinking it was nice, but we don't go too overboard.

TONY: You chose a stage name to preserve your existence as a regular teenager, but as you become more visible, are you still able to keep the two worlds separate?

NP: All my good friends are from school or camp. I have, like, two friends who I've met in the business. But it's awkward sometimes. I'll be with my friends, and someone will come up and ask for an autograph or ask my friends to introduce them to me. But my friends have learned that they can't call me by my real name in public or whatever--they've just learned to deal with it.

TONY: Has it affected how you see yourself?

NP: I think about looks a lot more, and I'm more tuned in to fashion stuff, because I'm doing photo shoots all the time and I have stylists and makeup artists telling me stuff. So I'm more in tune with that than I would have normally been, because you realize how much your job depends on that. Sometimes when I'm in a cab that's driving crazily, I think, What if he slammed on the brakes and I went flying through the glass and broke my nose? Would I still get a job? So that's the pressure I'm under, but at the same time, I understand it. I don't want to sound superficial, but when I go see a movie myself, I'd rather look at Tom Cruise than some shmo with a beer belly.

TONY: Have you thought about where you'd like to go to college yet?

NP: Well, I'd like to go to a good school and stay on the East Coast. There are a lot of small schools I'd like to look into. Sara Gilbert--she's great--was trying to tell me that I should go to Yale and that it was better than all the other schools. This is the year I need to start looking into that.

TONY: Do you think you'll have to have bodyguards who follow you around the way Chelsea Clinton does at Stanford?

NP: I might have to after the Star Wars movie comes out, but I think it's kind of a good thing. I've heard so many rape stories of girls on college campuses that go unreported, and it's not even someone you don't know who breaks into your house; it's, like, someone you're friends with.

TONY: Have you thought about how your life will change after 'Star Wars' is released?

NP: I know it will be harder to walk down the street, but something that George [Lucas] told me is that no matter how big you are, anyone on TV is bigger because they are in people's living rooms. So the most recognizable people are going to be, like, George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston. Julia Roberts can still walk down the street by herself.

TONY: Are you going to have approval on your 'Star Wars' action figure?

NP: I don't know, but that will be fun. As one of the guys on the movie said, in the year 2000, someone is going to get me as a Christmas present.