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Natalie Portman’s body double: accusations, accounting and Aronofsky

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Natalie Portman can’t catch a break -- or, to hear her body double Sarah Lane tell it, caught a lot of them during the filming of ‘Black Swan.’

Over the weekend, Lane dished to about anyone who would listen that the Oscar-winning Portman didn’t do nearly as much hoofing as we’ve been told -- specifically that about 5% of the footwork we see on screen is the real Natalie.

It all started last week when our sister blog Culture Monster published an interview with Portman’s fiancé, Benjamin Millepied, who addressed a few rumblings that Portman didn’t do the majority of the dancing in the thriller.

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‘[Reports are] making it sound like [Lane] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettés, and one diagonal [phrase] in the studio. Honestly, 85% of that movie is Natalie,’ said Millepied.

Millepied, apparently, cut into the wrong Lane.

‘I should specify the actual percentage of dancing that Natalie did,” Lane told the Wall Street Journal in an email. “They are saying that it was 85-90% of the dancing but I can tell you honestly that it was about 5% of the on-screen dancing.”

Portman’s director Darren Aronofsky remained silent in the wings but on Monday revealed that he requested the film’s editor to physically count the number of scenes from the final prodcut that featured Natalie dancing on her own.

‘There are 139 dance shots in the film. 111 are Natalie Portman untouched. 28 are her dance double Sarah Lane. If you do the math that’s 80% Natalie Portman,’ he said in a statement. ‘... Natalie sweated long and hard to deliver a great physical and emotional performance. And I don’t want anyone to think that’s not her they are watching. It is.”

Talk about ruffled feathers.

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-- Matt Donnelly
Twitter.com/MattDonnelly

Phot: Natalie Portman as embattled ballerina Nina in ‘Black Swan.’ Credit: Fox Searchlight

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