Cusk's 'Life of M' protagonist mirrors Natalie Portman's career, Guardian review says

Rachel Cusk's novel 'Life of M' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Faber & Faber, 25 August 2026) centres on a film star, M, whose career echoes Natalie Portman's: a début with sex scenes cut at her mother's insistence, like Portman's age-13 role in 'Léon', and a ballerina film modelled on 'Black Swan'. The Guardian's 21 August review and a 20 August New York Times interview both raised the resemblance with Cusk.