Oscars: Darren Aronofsky on ‘Black Swan,’ Aaron Sorkin on ... Facebook?

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With Natalie Portman a heavy favorite to take the lead actress Oscar, director Darren Aronofsky reflected Sunday on how unlikely it was that any of them were on the Academy Awards red carpet -- given that ‘Black Swan’ almost didn’t get made.

‘It’s not just about that,’ said the best director nominee. ‘This is a genre film, and the academy doesn’t look at genre films the same way.’

And what if the film’s only Oscar -- it is nominated in five categories, including best picture -- goes to Portman?

‘We never thought we’d get anything,’ Aronofsky said. ‘Then we started shooting and we thought,’Well, maybe Natalie will get some attention.’ So, if it’s her up there on the stage respresenting the movie, that’s plenty for me.’

‘Black Swan’ was also nominated in four categories at Saturday’s Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica. ‘It’s kind of nice to straddle both worlds ... ,’ said Aronofsky, who won a first-screenplay Spirit Award for his 1998 debut film, ‘Pi.’ ‘It felt a little like a homecoming.’

Meanwhile, ‘The Social Network’ writer Aaron Sorkin was coming from an underdog stance as well. ‘You know what,’ he said, ‘it’s just such an honor to be here tonight.’

As he walked away, however, he told a reporter, ‘I’m joining Facebook, just stay in contact with me.’

Um, joining? About time, some would say.

-- Steven Zeitchik and Jessica Gelt