Natalie Portman's Fiance Defends Her 'Black Swan' Dancing Chops

By Kelly Fisher Posted Mar 24th 2011 06:15AM

Natalie Portman may have won her first Oscar for her physically demanding role in 'Black Swan,' but the actress has recently been criticized for all the fanfare when it was revealed she had a dancing double in the film. Her fiance, Benjamin Millepied, is now coming to her defense on the dancing matter.

"There are articles now talking about her dance double [American Ballet Theatre dancer Sarah Lane] that are making it sound like [Lane] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettes, and one diagonal [phrase] in the studio," Millepied told the Los Angeles Times.

Millipied served as the choreographer for the psychological thriller, as well as performed as one of the dancers in the film.

"It was so believable, it was fantastic, that beautiful movement quality," Millepied said of Portman's dancing. The actress famously trained for a year to accurately portray a professional ballerina in the film.

"Honestly, 85 percent of that movie is Natalie," he added.

Between Portman's dedication to the role and Millepied's choreography, 'Black Swan' was able to convince audiences that the actress was a trained dancer. But how was the movie able to have those long, unbroken shots of the performances?

"By making things fluid and not too complicated," Millepied explained. "By getting more movement going, which in turn added to the camera movement -- that is basically what I did. If we had kept things more classical, more restrained, less fluid, it would have been harder to trick the eye."

When asked which dancing moment in the film was his favorite, the choreographer was quick not to name any specific moment, simply stating, "What came off best to me was Natalie."

Portman and Millepied met while working on 'Black Swan' together. The couple announced their engagement in December and are expecting their first child together this year.

Watch POP-arazzi, our weekly video roundup of the latest craziness in pop culture:

Tags: natalie Portman

Comments

(11)

Thursday 24 March

By Ted

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Who cares if she had a double or not? The movie was wonderful and Portman was great. Glad she won an Oscar for it, I'd like to see her critics do better. She's beautiful and smart, I love her. He is a lucky man.

By mcm

Vote down Vote up Report this

He looks like a human version of an ant. Anyway, she didn't do anything special in this film. She had a scared face most of the time, got eaten out and that's basically it. the girl from True Grit was supposed to be in that category and should have won.

By Gary

You need help.

I think you need to get your eyes checked. And your brain.

Tuesday 29 March

By Rissa

Actually, the "girl from True Grit", Hailee Steinfeld, was nominated in the SUPPORTING Actress role at the Oscars, not in the Best Actress category like Portman, so the next time you bash someone and praise another for their work, get your sh!t straight.

You dumb b*tch, that's why I said she should have been in THAT CATEGORY, PORTMAN'S CATEGORY, ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE CATEGORY, and should have won. Her role in True Grit was a leading role. Learn to read and interpret stuff before your open that stupid mouth of yours.

KEY WORDS -- SUPPOSED TO/ SHOULD HAVE. Jesus christ, can't you read, well you're a female, I couldn't expect more from you.

By Parissa

Jennefer Biel had a double in Flash Dance and we STILL loved her, her roll in that film being iconic! Doubles are used ALL the time in film ... so what's the big deal in having used one for some sequences in, "Black Swan?" Audiences today, unfortunately, spend too much time analyzing everything! If you spend the money to go see a film, ENJOY IT! Don't pick it to pieces afterwards! I remember as a kid seemingly 'floating' ~ living in a momentary bubble of 'bliss' ~ when a movie with my favorite movie star (or stars) was over! Life was tough in my home, there weren't a lot of 'fun' or happy moments, so going to the movies was a real treat and a respite ~ even if imaginary ~ from the reality of an unhappy environment. I wish I could recapture that temporary feeling of 'movie bliss' as an adult ... I do once in awhile ... not often ... occasionally, however. And when I do, I LOVE the feeling!

By x

oh just stop being so dumb

Sunday 27 March

By mandy

I think the "big deal" being made about the double being used is that Natalie is taking credit for almost all of the dancing. I'm sorry, but training for a year is not going to allow you to dance in the same way as a ballering who has usually spent many, many years training! I really do not understand all of the awards given to actors and actesses, like it is sucy a great feat to be able to remember lines, and use facial expressions; teachers, doctors, scientists..., those are the people that I am impressed with. It seems like almost every month there is one award ceremony or another, I cannot think of any other job where the workers reward themselves so often!

By @ rissa

Page 1 of 1