'Please hold him in your hearts and read his gorgeous books,' writes the 'Vox Lux' actress on her social media account upon learning that the Israeli literary giant had lost his battle against cancer.
- December 31, 2018
AceShowbiz - Natalie Portman has said her "heart is broken" over the death of friend and author, Amos Oz.
It was announced on Friday, December 28, that the Israeli literary giant had died of cancer.
His autobiographical novel, "A Tale of Love and Darkness", was made into a film by Portman in 2015, and she took to Instagram to share her condolences, alongside a sweet photo of the pair embracing.
"My heart is broken. Today we lost a soul, a mind, a heart, Amos Oz, who brought so much beauty, so much love, and a vision of peace to our lives," Portman wrote. "Please hold him in your hearts and read his gorgeous books. My most loving embrace to his family, who he loved extremely."
"A Tale of Love and Darkness" focuses on his close relationship with his mother, Fania, who committed suicide when Oz was 12. Portman, who was born in Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew, played Fania in the film, which she also wrote and directed.
The mother-of-two previously told The Hollywood Reporter she had met Oz and his wife, Nily, for tea in their apartment in Tel Aviv where they discussed her plans for his book.
"The language was really what (drew me), his obsession with words and the way words are connected in Hebrew, which has this incredible poetry and magic," she explained. "It's obviously almost impossible to translate, but there’s just incredible beauty to that."
"(Jews are) a people built of words, people built of books, and it's quite beautiful to see that, which is a strange thing to start for a movie."
Oz published more than 18 books, including "Black Box" and "In the Land of Israel".
He is survived by his wife and their three children.
