(JTA) — Actress Natalie Portman told Harvard University seniors to use their inexperience as an asset in their future endeavors.

Portman spoke Wednesday at Harvard Class Day, telling the students that the honor was intimidating, the Boston Globe reported.

Portman is a 2003 graduate of Harvard, with a degree in psychology.

The actress, who has dual American and Israeli citizenships, told the students that she was “so oblivious to my own limitations” when she agreed to star in “The Black Swan,” for which she won an Academy Award for best actress. She took the gig, despite being warned that it was an “artistic risk,” she told the students.

Portman, the Globe reported, told the students she was often anxious and overwhelmed while a student at Harvard, and concluded by saying: “I can’t wait to see the beautiful things you do.”

Portman’s directorial debut, an adaptation of Israeli novelist Amos Oz’s memoir “A Tale of Love and Darkness” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last week. She also recently announced she will play Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an upcoming film.