Natalie Portman: 'Black Swan' almost killed me

Natalie Portman is now reaping the rewards of her intense performance in "Black Swan" — but it wasn't always award nominations and red carpets.

"There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die," she told EW recently about playing perfection-obsessed ballerina Nina Sayers.  

"It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could sort of take you down."

Portman indeed reaches terrifying places is Darren Aronofsky's sexually charged fever-dream of a film, but Portman was more concerned about the movie finding an audience. And then she realized that lady-loving with Mila Kunis would save the day.

"I remember them being like, 'How do you get guys to a ballet movie? How do you get girls to a thriller?' And the answer is a lesbian scene," she said.

"Everyone wants to see that."

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— Matt Donnelly
Twitter.com/MattDonnelly

Photo: It's her turn — Natalie Portman stars in "Black Swan." Credit: Niko Tavernise / Fox Searchlight. 

Comments

[hijk]

using lesbianism for a fast buck
how cheap portman

[LATaxpayer]

Lesbian scene or not, I was very very impressed by Portman's portrayal of ballerina Nina Sayers. I highly recommend you see the film, if you haven't seen it yet.

I was favorably impressed by all the positive reviews of the film and the actor's performances. Even though I know nothing about ballet (and am not really interested in it) I decided to see it to see what the fuss was about. I am now a big fan of Natalie Portman because she can act!

[John James]

On the surface, the film is totally ridiculous. Anyone that severely psychotic couldn't function in a normal competitive world. She stabs herself with a shard of glass thinking she is killing her rival and then goes on to dance on stage? She falls to the floor from a lift while dancing as the white swan, then goes on to thunderous applause as the black swan. Natalie Portman is an excellent actress, but if you are a ballet fan, the film will disappoint because of its overdone sinister overtones. The ballet master grabs her crotch while explaining that the black swan needs to be more sensual. She hallucinates. Overhead lights go out. Her mirror image moves while she doesn't. The pianist walks out on her rehearsal. Yeah, this really goes on in the ballet world all the time. Give me a break.

[ChaChaheels]

straight men just love that girl on girl action...go figure..

[yyy]

Um, this wasn't suppose to be a realistic portrayal of ballet. It's a melodrama. A movie. I wish people did more research before they went to see a movie.

[jeff]

might be cool if some posters here respected the words 'SPOILER ALERTS' before they mouth off.