NATALIE PORTMAN'S BARRIER-BREAKING SOCCER CLUB - Hottest Ticket in Hollywood!

JUST OVER A YEAR AGO THE OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS LAUNCHED AN L.A.-BASED WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM. NOW ANGEL CITY FOOTBALL CLUB IS FILLING STADIUMSAND BUILDING AN A-LIST FAN BASE

- GILLIAN TELLING

There’s no red carpet, movie marquee or haute couture ensembles. But when the women’s Angel City Football Club players hit the field at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, it’s clear that stars have arrived. “The energy,” says actress Natalie Portman, “is nothing short of electric.”

It’s a dream come true for Portman, who founded the Angel City Football Club—part of the National Women’s Soccer League—with business partners Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman and Alexis Ohanian in 2020. Since their first game in April 2022, matches have become celebratory the moment fans arrive—many wearing Angel City’s official colors of asphalt (gray) and sol rosa (pink)—and become part of a party with group cheers, drumbeats and smoke blasts. “You can’t not get swept up into it,” says actress Uzo Aduba, 42, one of several celebrity investors. “Whether it’s the drumming, the pink smoke or the fan group flags, it’s just powerful.”

Then there’s fellow backer and fangirl Jennifer Garner, who shows up to games in a “Soccer Mom” shirt and hands out orange slices. “I love communal events that make L.A. feel like a small town, and our home games are that,” says the actress, 51. “It’s like being in on something together.”