When one asks actress Natalie Portman what she's currently listening to, immediately the memory flashes back to the classic scene in “Garden State.” If you've seen the movie, you know the one: Her character, Sam, is in a doctor's office waiting room when she starts up a conversation with Andrew, played by Zach Braff. Her character is raving about the Shins, and soon we're inside her head enjoying the band too.

Portman, who's generating Oscar buzz for her work as a ballerina in Darren Aronofsky's “Black Swan,”says that she's been looking back in music more than she is keeping up with trends. Currently in heavy rotation, she says, is “nothing new, although of new stuff, I like Antony, and Sufjan Stevens andDeerhunter. I also listen to a lot of hip-hop — but more older stuff, like Tribe and Jurassic 5 andthe Roots.

“And I have a lot of soul [music], like Otis, Aretha, Jeff Buckley and a lot of classical. I'm really all over the place.”

—Amy Kaufman