Natalie Portman fled Sydney with her family as she boarded a flight back to Los Angeles on Thursday morning shortly before new draconian lockdown rules were set to be enforced. 

The actress, 40, left Australia after abruptly dropping out of HBO Films' Days of Abandonment for 'personal reasons'. 

She made the announcement in a statement last week, just days after Sydney entered full lockdown for the first time in more than a year to fight the Delta variant.  

On Thursday afternoon, the actress and her family were spotted making their way onto a huge aircraft in Sydney, ready for a 14-hour flight back to their home in Los Angeles.

The actress and her husband Benjamin Millepied had been pictured hours earlier packing up their rented property in Vaucluse, before they took their children Aleph, nine, and Amalia, four, in a limousine to the airport.

Before getting on the plane, Natalie was seen carrying her young daughter in her arms while her husband and son walked ahead in front.

She kept a low-profile in a navy jumper, grey trackpants and a black sun hat, and wore a protective mask on her face.

Filmmaker Benjamin, 44, dressed casually in a black T-shirt, sweatpants, an orange cap and a face mask.

Natalie's departure comes after she abruptly pulled out of her new movie Days of Abandonment for 'unforeseen personal reasons' on August 2.

The move effectively put a stop to production, as the project was left without a lead actress - one day before filming was set to commence.