On September 1, 2010, the world premiere of the psychological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky took place, in which the main character was played by Natalie Portman. The role of the ballerina Nina brought her recognition not only from viewers, but also from critics, and resulted in numerous awards, including the first and only one in her career. However, working on the set turned out to be a challenge that resulted in considerable damage to her health.
She didn’t have the energy to exercise because she was trying to lose weight at the time. This is how Portman prepared for the role
Although she had trained in contemporary dance and ballet since her childhood, which gave her considerable experience and skills in this field, she had to start preparing for the role long before she stepped onto the set. They mainly included backbreaking training that lasted from 5 to even 8 hours a day. – Over time, we also added swimming to our training, I had 3 hours of ballet classes a day – . For the first half a year, she sculpted her figure and strengthened her muscles, constantly increasing the amount and types of activity.
Finally, she started preparing for the choreography, which turned out to be exhausting not only physically, but also mentally, especially since she also had to lose a lot of weight in the meantime. For this purpose, she introduced a restrictive diet of only 1,200 calories a day. The basis of her meals were vegetables and fruits, from which she composed various types of salads. This made her lose as much as 10 kilograms quickly, but the director and the trainers under whose supervision she was preparing were not satisfied with the results she achieved. “You don’t really look like a ballerina yet,” she recalled their words. However, this was only the beginning of the challenge she had to face.
When she broke a rib on set, no one helped her. Today he understands the director’s decisions
It’s no secret that Aronofsky has an unconventional approach to his actors and work on set. It was no different when creating “Black Swan”. In the film, Portman’s character competed with another dancer, Lily, played by Mila Kunis. The director wanted their mutual dislike to be as authentic as possible, so during a break from filming, he incited them against each other. – He told me that Mila was doing really well and was much better than me. I think he was trying to create a rivalry between us in real life too, the actress said in one of the interviews.
She suffered various trips on the set, which resulted in injuries that left her with torn fingers or knuckles. – There were nights when I thought I would literally die – she said in an interview about the pain she felt at the time. The worst situation she recalls was a fall that resulted in her breaking a rib. She then asked the producers to call a doctor who could give her first aid. It turned out that it was not included in the budget and ultimately the medic did not appear on the set. What’s more, when the director heard about what happened, he told her to… grit her teeth and keep playing, because that’s what real ballerinas do. – It wasn’t the end of the world. Real dancers dance with such incredible injuries that it’s even hard to believe – Portman, explaining that she was ready to make such a sacrifice for the sake of art and success.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
