Natalie Portman Only Did 5 Percent of the Dancing in Black Swan
Sarah Lane, the American Ballet Theater soloist who served as Natalie Portman's dancing double for her Oscar-winning turn in Black Swan, claims that she did 95% of the dancing seen in the movie. Lane says she did all the fancy footwork and Natalie's head was digitally grafted onto her body in post production.
"The shots that are just her face with arms, those shots are definitely Natalie. But that doesn't show the actual dancing," Lane says. Lane talked to Entertainment Weekly to set the record straight after Benjamin Millepied, the film's choreographer and Portman's babydaddy, told the LA Times that Portman did 85% of the dancing. Lane also says the producers of the movie told her not to discuss how much of the movie she appeared in with the press.
Part of what won Portman her Oscar was the perception that she transformed herself into a ballet dancer for the role. If that isn't true, that means Annette Bening was robbed yet again. It's still a case of he said/she said at this point, but the Black Swan in us wants to take Lane's side.
