After making a movie about wrestling, which he considers to be the lowest art form, Darren Aronofsky made a movie about what he considers to be the highest art form: ballet. Black Swan is a psychological horror masterpiece, heavily inspired by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Double, about a ballerina who becomes so obsessed with her art that it takes over her personal life.
Despite the investors’ initial hesitation to even fund the movie, it became a runaway box office hit, and earned Natalie Portman an Academy Award. So, here are 10 fascinating details from behind the scenes of Black Swan.
Natalie Portman Did A Year Of Ballet Training To Prepare For The Film
According to a radio interview with Darren Aronofsky, Natalie Portman trained professionally as a dancer for a full year in order to prepare for her role in this film.
And not only that, since the movie hadn’t been officially funded yet and Aronofsky was still looking for investors, Portman agreed to pay for her ballet lessons out of her own pocket. The director has credited Portman’s commitment to the project for his ability to get it into production.
Darren Aronofsky Originally Planned To Incorporate Ballet Into The Plot Of The Wrestler
Darren Aronofsky was interested by the worlds of wrestling and ballet, and wanted to dramatize the mindset of wrestlers and ballerinas. He thought it was an interesting dichotomy, because wrestling is arguably the epitome of “low art,” and ballet is arguably the epitome of “high art.” In fact, Aronofsky originally planned to incorporate ballet into the plot of The Wrestler, making it the story of a love affair between a wrestler and a ballerina.
However, the director realized that the worlds of wrestling and ballet were too big for just one movie, so he turned The Wrestler’s love interest role into a stripper, and decided to make a whole different movie about ballet, which became Black Swan.
Mila Kunis Got Her Role On Natalie Portman’s Recommendation
Blake Lively and Eva Green auditioned for the role of Lily before Mila Kunis landed the part. Kunis got the role on Natalie Portman’s recommendation, after Portman discovered that Kunis had done ballet as a casual childhood hobby.
Darren Aronofsky offered Kunis the role after a short video chat via Skype. She didn’t even have to audition.
Natalie Portman Traded Her Trailer For Medical Attention
When he was first tallying up the budget for Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky was hoping to raise around $30 million. However, he only ended up with $13 million. This left the budget so slim that when Natalie Portman dislocated a rib while filming, she was told that the production couldn’t afford a medic.
For obvious reasons, she still wanted medical attention, so she told the producers that they could take away her trailer to make room in the budget for a medic. The following day, Portman’s trailer was gone.
The Script Spent 10 Years In Development Hell
The script for Black Swan spent a full decade in development hell before Darren Aronofsky managed to get it into production. It began its life as a script by Andres Heinz under the title The Understudy. This version of the story was set on the off-Broadway theater scene, and the protagonist’s name was Alexandria, not Nina.
While Aronofsky liked the script, he felt that it should be set in the world of ballet. He tapped John J. McLaughlin to change the setting of the script, and then brought in Mark Heyman to rewrite that draft.
Menstrual Symbolism Informed Natalie Portman’s Interpretation Of The Ending
When the fake blood was being applied to Nina’s stab wound, Natalie Portman told Darren Aronofsky that she was uncomfortable with how the blood had been placed on her tights, because it apparently looked like menstruation. Aronofsky told her that this was intentional, in order to symbolize Nina’s transformation into a woman.
This ended up informing Portman’s interpretation of the film’s ending. She doesn’t believe that Nina died at the end; instead, she believes that Nina killed the little girl in her to become a woman.
The Movie Was Shot On Super 16
Darren Aronofsky decided to shoot Black Swan on Super 16 mm cameras to avoid giving it a glossy look. He gave the film a grainy visual style and a muted color palette, which was similar to the look of his previous film, The Wrestler.
Aronofsky wanted to give the movie a cinéma vérité feel, with handheld cameras conveying the psychological themes and subject matter, and the portability of the Super 16 cameras made this a lot easier.
Natalie Portman Met Her Husband On The Set Of Black Swan
On the set of Black Swan, Natalie Portman met her future husband, the movie’s choreographer Benjamin Millepied. Since the movie came out, the two have gotten married and had two kids together.
There’s a scene in the movie in which Thomas asks a minor character played by Millepied if he would sleep with Nina and he says he wouldn’t, which Portman joked during her Golden Globes acceptance speech is proof that he’s a good actor.
Summer Glau Landed A Role That Was Cut During Pre-Production
Summer Glau auditioned for a role in the film, and even landed it, but during pre-production, Darren Aronofsky tightened up the script and Glau’s character ended up getting cut.
Before casting Winona Ryder as Beth Macintyre, Aronofsky seriously considered casting Parker Posey in the role. Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman and Antonio Banderas were both considered for the role of Thomas Leroy.
Darren Aronofsky’s Attempts To Create A Rivalry Between Natalie Portman And Mila Kunis Were Fruitless
During production on Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky attempted to create a real-life rivalry between his stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. He would send each of the actors text messages that complimented the other’s performance.
However, according to Kunis, this didn’t work, and actually had the opposite effect, as the two actors were already good friends. Whenever Aronofsky texted one of them to compliment the other’s performance, they would simply text a congratulatory message to each other.