Natalie Portman considered fear a part of the Hollywood process

The onslaught of horror stories emerging from Hollywood in recent weeks has given Black Swan actress, Natalie Portman, pause for thought.

Initially grateful she hadn't experienced the violence and degradation endured by many women within the entertainment industry, the 36-year-old actress slowly realised that she had, in actual fact, been subject to various forms of threat and manipulation over the course of her career.

Speaking at the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles, the Oscar-winning actress discussed the recent controversies before providing an insight into her experience as a female in Hollywood.

"When I heard everything coming out, I was like, wow, I'm so lucky that I haven't had this," she began.

"And then, on reflection, I was like, okay, definitely never been assaulted, definitely not, but I've had discrimination or harassment on almost everything I've ever worked on in some way."

With more and more women coming forward with their stories of sexual assault and rape, Natalie initially found it hard to place herself within the culture of misogyny, but soon realised she had been exploited many times, although not to the same extent as her peers.

"I went from thinking I don't have a story to thinking, Oh wait, I have 100 stories. And I think a lot of people are having these reckonings with themselves, of things that we just took for granted as like, this is part of the process."

Natalie went onto to tell the audience about an incident with a film producer which left her feeling fearful and manipulated.

Having been invited to take a flight with him, Natalie recalled: "I showed up and it was just the two of us, and one bed was made on the plane."

After communicating her discomfort at the dynamic, Natalie explained that the incident did not escalate, but certainly had an effect on her confidence.

"Nothing happened. I was not assaulted. I said, 'This doesn't make me comfortable' and that was respected but was super not OK. That was really unacceptable and manipulative. I was scared."