From "The Late Show with David Letterman", 1999-May-21.
Transcribed by footnote.

Dave: Our first guest stars as Queen Amidala in a quiet little film that just opened up entitled Star Wars - Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Ladies and gentleman, here's Natalie Portman. Natalie...

[ Natalie comes out, wearing a black top and a light-blue full-length skirt. Her hair is down, she looks nice. :) ]

Dave: Welcome back.
Natalie: Thank you
Dave: Natalie, how many times have you been on the ..uhh.. show here?
Natalie: this is my...3rd time?
Dave: 3rd or 4th time? Something like that.
Natalie: Yeah
Dave: Yeah. Yeah. And uhh.. over the course of a couple years. How old were you the first time you were on the show?
Natalie: 13, maybe?
Dave: 13 years old
Natalie: I think so
Dave: And you're now what, just 15 or so? 15 or 16, How old are you?
Natalie: I'm almost 18.
[Audience member hoots]
Dave: You-- you're almost 18 years old? Wowww.. well you still seem, well you are a kid at 18 years old.
Natalie: Mmmhmm.
Dave: How have you been?!
Natalie: I've been wonderful.
Dave: It's a big Boston show, I know you spent some time up there.
Natalie: Yeah, I was just in Boston over the weekend.
Dave: What were you doing up there?
Natalie: I was visiting some friends. It was so great --
[Audience cheers, since they're from Boston]
Natalie: We went to uhh, we went to Harold's for ice cream. Amazing.
[Audience cheer]
Natalie: And uhm, and we went to Pinoccio's for pizza. It was wonderful. Loved it.
[Audience cheers again]
Dave: Ladies and gentleman, please hold your applause until she's mentioned every establishment in Boston.
[Scattered laughs]
Dave: And.. you worked up there in a uhh...
Natalie: Yeah. I did, we opened Anne Frank there.
Dave: Uh huh.
Natalie: So I was there for about a month --
Dave: That must have been great, don't you think? Wasn't it fun?
Natalie: It was, it was really wonderful. We stayed at Swiss Otel?
Dave: Swiss Hotel.
Natalie: [laugh] Which is, it's.. the, the "hotel" part doesn't have an 'H'. So you're forced to become like, you know when Alex Trebec on Jeopardy, when all of a sudden, he says a french word and he'll be like "Sacre bleu" you know. [giggling]
Dave: [laughing]
Natalie: So you have to say like, [with an accent] "I'm just coming from the Swiss O'tel." [giggling] You know, there's no way you can say it with that sentence.
Dave: Well, it's very nice. It's very continental, don't you think?
Natalie: Yeah very, very.
Dave: And, and now, uhh.. look at you, uhh, the first time you were here, what was the movie you were on the first time you were on the show?
Natalie: The Professional, maybe?
Dave: Yeah, something like that. And then now --
[Audience cheering]
Dave: And then, and now you're in like the Star Wars movie. Wow --
Natalie: I know...
Dave: My God, how 'bout that?
Natalie: It's insane!
Dave: Now, have you been to see the Star Wars movie?
Natalie: Three times!
Dave: No, really? Has this changed your life? Taken it to a different level?
Natalie: A little. It, it's a little wierd.
Dave: Mmmhmm
Natalie: It's just become.. everywhere pretty much.
Dave: Yeah
Natalie: It's all over the place.
Dave: And are you excited because you, you got the prom coming up?
Natalie: Yeah
Dave: Are you going to the prom?
Natalie: Yes I am.
Dave: Now wha- wha-, who's the kid who's going to take a movie star to the prom?
Natalie: [quietly] he, he's a friend of mine.
Dave: really
Natalie: [laughing]
Dave: And is there a lot of pressure on the kid to take a movie star to the prom?
Natalie: No.. We, we've known each other since we were like - 11 years old or something.
Dave: uh huh
Natalie: He's known me for a long time.
Dave: yeah
Natalie: no problem
Dave: And what kind of things will you do at the prom?
[Audience laughs]
Natalie: [pause] Dance?! [laughing]
Dave: And then that's it?
Natalie: Dance!
Dave: yeah?
Natalie: alot.
Dave: But then after the prom, do you have like the limo, you go out, you do stuff?
Natalie: We got a hummer limo.
Dave: Ahh! The Hummer.
[Audience cheering and hooting a lot.
Natalie: [laughing, (trying not to acknowledge dave's hidden meaning)]
Dave: That's a nice ride.
Natalie: 16 person, it's gonna be... monster truck.
Dave: Now you have your driver's license right?
Natalie: I just got it last week. I made a promise to myself that I would get it before I was 18, and uhm, I kinda missed out cuz, during Anne Frank I couldn't learn how to drive.
Dave: Did you go to driver's ed?
Natalie: Yes I did.
Dave: Is it a class in high school?
Natalie: It is, but I got cut.. I, I was, left out cuz uhm.. I, I didn't sign up early enough.
Dave: I see
Natalie: So I went to another driver's ed school.
Dave: right
Natalie: And I had my test, and it was... screwed up a little. [laugh]
Dave: Screwed up on the driving part of it?
Natalie: [laugh] yeah
Dave: Well, what did you screw up?
Natalie: Well, I don't know how, but, somehow, on my 3-point turn, I turned on ... being the genius I am, the wind-shield wipers.
[Audience laugh]
Natalie: So I'm like.. I'm like, horizontally blocking the street. You know, from front to end. And uhm, uhm... it's not my car so I didn't know how to, it's the drivers ed car, so I'm like "ohohohohoh.." You know, I didn't know what to do.
Dave: yeah
Natalie: And so the, the woman finally had to do like, this is how you, you know, you turn it off. And I was like "Oh, thankyou."
Dave: Yeah, but you know, you gotta be thinking, at all times when stuff like that happens, you gotta use your head because it's not your car --
Natalie: Exactly.
Dave: And the wind-shield wipers come on. You, you look at the woman and say, "What the hell is this? Faulty wiring?!"
Natalie: [giggling]
Dave: "How am I supposed to take the damn test, when you gotta problem with your circuit-breakers?!"
Natalie: [laugh] Exactly.
Dave: Gotta be on the offensive. So they gave you the license anyway?
Natalie: Yeah, and also I -- [pause as she realizes his last sentence] [laugh]
[Audience laughter]
Natalie: And uhh, I had to make a left turn and I didn't wait for the oncoming traffic to pass?
[Audience laugh]
Dave: You know, I'll tell you, I'll tell you something, as you drive.. this is the thing that has been driving me crazy since I had my license at 16.
Natalie: Mmmhmm
Dave: And I passed with flying colors, I'm an excellent driver by the way --
Natalie: okay
[Audience laugh]
Dave: I've been cited for speeding several times, but I'm an excellent driver --
Natalie: okay
Dave: And maybe you'd know this, maybe you don't know this, but it's the kind of thing you should know, and if you don't, you're gonna learn it here tonight. You come to, let's say it's a 4-way stop...
Natalie: okay
Dave: 4 way stop.
Natalie: right.
Dave: Okay. Who has the right of way?
[talking over each other]
Natalie: The first person --
Dave: 4, 4.. 4... --
Natalie: The first person that gets to the stop.
Dave: 4 cars waiting at a 4 way stop. Who has the right of way?
Natalie: The first one to the stop.
Dave: Mmmhmm
Natalie: And if you come at the same time, you have to give eye-contact, or --
Dave: NO! You don't have to give "eye-contact".
[Audience laughing]
Natalie: [laughing]
Dave: If you arrive at the same time, the car with the right of way is the car to the right.
Natalie: .. okay.
Dave: The car to the right has the right of way.
Natalie: Yeah but... you're in a circle, so...
Dave: No you're not in a circle, you're at a 4-way stop.
[Audience laughing]
Natalie: Okay! You're in like a square, but still, who's right? Who's right goes first?
Dave: Ahh, ahh.. [laugh] but no...
[Natalie looks to the audience and laughs with them]
Dave: Alright, 4 cars stop at a culdesac, is that better?
[Natalie laughing along with audience]
Dave: You're a car. I'm a car.
Natalie: okay
Dave: Okay look, we've arrived at the interesection simultaneously.
Natalie: Alright. I'm ready.
Dave: Okay, who goes first?
Natalie: I do.
Dave: That's right. Why?
Natalie: Because I'm to your right.
Dave: That's right.
Paul Schaeffar: [Game show "ping" sound indicating correct answer]
Natalie: But question.. [laughing at the "ping"]
[Audience cheering and applauding]
Natalie: No but, I wasn't.. If 4, if you're 4 cars...
Dave: mmmhmm
Natalie: then who goes?
Dave: It's --
Natalie: ...and they're all at the same time.
Dave: It seems unlikely that 4 would arrive simultaneously...
[Audience laugh]
Dave: but it still then would be, it would be who ever was to the right of last car who arrived-- that arrived.
[Audience laughing doubtfully]
Natalie: [giggling] ...okay?
[Audience laughing]
Dave: Here, here's what you don't want to do: when you pull up to the intersection, and you, and you're unsure of what the law is, what the rule is, don't do this. [Gesturing frantically for cross traffic to go ahead]
[Audience laughter]
Dave: That indicates --
Natalie: That's so what I would do.
Dave: yeah, but no, that indicates that you don't know what the law is. It's the car to the right, or the car that arrived there first.
Natalie: Thank you.
Dave: Well, you don't..[mumbling]
Natalie: [laughing]
Dave: Oh hey! We have your license here,
Natalie: yeah
Dave: Take a look at that.
Natalie: I'm very angry and pale in...
Dave: yeah, well congratulations, it's uhh..
[Dave holds it up for the camera, mostly male part of audience cheers. By the way, according to her license she's 5 foot 3 inches (160 cm) Also, she looks nice even in a DMV photo. :P ]
Dave: You just got back from Japan?
Natalie: Yeah, I went to Japan with my Japanese class this year.
Dave: You speak Japanese?
Natalie: A little bit, yeah. So uhm, we made many friends. We brought Hershey's kisses, they don't have Hershey's kisses there, so. We took them, and we'd give them out on the subway and then we'd you know, we'd ask them in Japanese if they were our friends.
Dave: mmmhmm
Natalie: And they'd say sure, and then we'd take pictures of them. It was wonderful.
Dave: And so they have no, they have no problems taking candy from uhh, from Americans?
Natalie: No, not at all. I can even show you one of my friends ...
[Dave holds it up for the camera, but they don't show it close up at first]
Natalie: (They're not showing it..)
Dave: Oh I'm sorry, I thought they'd take a look at it...
[Finally the picture is shown in close up]
Natalie: There. [laughing]
Dave: There you are, yeah.
Natalie: It's me and uhh...see he's got Hershey's kisses in his mouth.
Dave: right
[Audience and Natalie laughing]
[Dave shows the next picture of people sitting, and a guy with a big stick]
Natalie: And uhm...we...that's Zen Budhist meditation. They uhm, there's this guy and... you have to sit you know, in the position. You sit like this, and when you feel that -- you have to keep your spirit up, and when your feel that your spirit is in concentrated, and is in good, you have to go like this [placing open palms together] and the guy comes and hits you.
Dave: wow
Natalie: [laugh] so of course, when we first started, like no one wanted to do it.
Dave: well yeah, you don't wanna get hit
Natalie: You don't wanna get smacked, you know?
Dave: exactly
Natalie: But uhm, but after awhile he got insulted, he was like [laughing] I wanna hit you guys. [laughing] So then every 5 minutes, we'd have to you know, stop and ..let him smack us
Dave: very strange.. you would, you would give him the candy as well?
Natalie: No. [laughing]
[Dave shows a picture of a guy leaning over to hug a Japanese girl.]
Natalie: And uhm...this is one of my friends, David, he uhh... loves hugging people and [laugh] apparently that's a no-no in Japan.
Dave: really? they don't like to be hugged?
Natalie: because of the germs and stuff
Dave: oh..
Natalie: You can't uhm, you can't hug, and touch, and kiss.
Dave: oh, really.
Natalie: That's why they bow instead of shaking hands and stuff.
Dave: Oh. Good for them.
Natalie: yeah
[Natalie and audience laugh]
Dave: Alright, well congratulations on the big Star Wars blockbuster...
Natalie: Thank you.
Dave: nice to have you with us again.
Natalie: Thank you, it's so nice coming back.
[Audience begins cheering all the way to commercial]
Dave: Thank you. Look, it's Natalie Portman!