Natalie Portman's Black Swan Dance Double Won't Back Down
Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection
Your move, Natalie Portman.
Ballerina Sarah Lane, who was the Oscar-winning actress' dance double, maintains that she did the majority of Portman's dancing in Black Swan.
The American Ballet Theatre star alleges that after she spoke to Glamour about her part in the movie, she received a phone call from one of the film's producers, who ordered her to stay quiet.
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"He asked if I would please not do any more interviews until after the Oscars because it was bad for Natalie's image," Lane told 20/20 on Friday.
"They were trying to create this image, this facade, really, that Natalie had done something extraordinary. Something that is pretty much impossible. . .to become a professional ballerina in a year and half," she continued. "Even with as hard as she worked, it takes so much more. It takes 22 years, it takes 30 years to become a ballerina."
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Both the film's director, Darren Aronofsky, and the movie's choreographer, Benjamin Millepied (who is now Portman's fiance), have refuted Lane's accusations.
"I had my editor count. There are 139 dance shots in the film. 111 are Natalie untouched. 28 are her dance double Sarah Lane," Aronofsky told Entertainment Weekly. "If you do the math that's 80% Natalie Portman. There are two complicated longer dance sequences that we used face replacement. Even so, if we were judging by time, over 90% would be Natalie."
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Echoed Millepied: "It was so believable, it was fantastic, that beautiful movement quality," he told the Los Angeles Times. "There are articles now talking about her dance double 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 in the studio. Honestly, 85% of that movie is Natalie."
Portman's costar, Mila Kunis, also came to the actress' defense. "She did do every ounce of every one of her dances," Kunis, 27, told EW. "[Lane] wasn't used for everything. It was more like a safety net. If Nat wasn't able to do something, you'd have a safety net. The same thing that I had -- I had a double as a safety net. We all did. No one ever denied it."
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Portman -- who is currently expecting her first child with Millepied -- has chosen to take the high road during the dispute.
"I know what went on," the Harvard grad, 29, told E! News. "We had an amazing experience making the movie. I don't want to tarnish it by entering it into nastiness."
Tell Us What You Think
23Um shut up campaining for an oscar is nothing new itâ??s the highest award an actor can receive. The Parparazzi are an unfortunate part of being a star she needs to get used to it or find another profession http://bit.ly/lUGHbe
Maybe this Sarah Lane should NOT be used as a body double again. They know going in what they are supposed to do and what not. She seems to think she should be the one getting all the recognition. Natalie Portman has shown she is the one with class in this. Maybe this woman is jealous, what else did she expect for being a body double, other than being paid. She wants the fame but the movie was NOT just about dancing. Talk about greed.
What a bitter cow! She apparently got paid for work on the film as a "dance double". It's not like she thought her name would be on the marquee next to Natalie Portman's, so what's with all of the public chatter? If she thinks she'll ever get work again on a film, she's mistaken. Idiot.
I recall reading, years ago, that Natalie Portman had dance lessons until she was 12, and always thought she'd be a dancer if she wasn't an actress, so its not like she never danced before this movie. She trained intensely for a year (or was it more) to be able to pull off most of the dancing in the moving, after a childhood full of dance education. She was cast in the role in part because of her ballet background. I think its just as likely the dance double is unfairly discrediting the work Natalie Portman did as opposed to the other way around.
The ballet world, including this prissy egomaniac, should be thankful for this film and all of it's successes. It has pulled ballet up from the grave and sparked interest where there was practically none, much more so than Lane could ever accomplish. If I were an influential member of this art, I would sit little miss Lane down and tell her to grow up and STFU......and maybe even issue a few well-placed apologies. This woman is borderline delusional.
Um, all stars have body doubles, They are actors not dancers. Marine Jahan was body double for Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. Big Deal!
I'm pretty sure people knew she had a dance double. I mean, come on, Portman is an actress, not a ballerina. That said, this girl should just shut it now. She's had her 15 minutes and then some.
What next? Stunt doubles crying because they did all of the stunts, not the celebrity?
I think Sarah is jealous. She shouldn't be. She did some good work in the film, but it's Natalie's acting that got her the Oscar. She didn't win the Oscar for dancing. Sarah is being unprofessional. She was a double not lead actress.
ive seen the movie...i know she has a double i dont care if she dances well im focus to the story and the way she act in the film...maybe sarah lane needs fame and fortune out of black swan.
The dancer was pissed because Nat won the Oscar. But people won the Oscar for their acting chop, not for their dancing skills.. If Nat won some dancing awards, then she can piss the $hit out her. I love Nat and I think she did a brilliant job in the movie and she deserved her Oscar.
Sarah Lane, the double, was asked by a producer not to talk about her work until after the Oscars. It was the intention of the producers to give the impression that NP did not have a dance double because it would improve her Oscar chances. An Oscar means more profits for them. Miss Lane's face was superimposed on NP's body, and it was very well done, Many believed she was doing the dancing. As for the editor counting shots. There were a huge number of shots of NP from the waist up flapping her arms. The actual dancing was a small percentage of the total "dance" shots, but it was all the double. It matters, because to claim that a 28 year old woman became a ballerina in a year when it takes years and years of intense training starting in childhood is disrespectful of a beautiful art form and the men and women who devote their lives to it.
Per Millepied: "...but really, she just did the footwork..." Ummm, isn't that the important part of dance?? So the pro dancer did do most of it. Not that that is a surprise or diminishes Natalie's work. She was beautiful and good acting. Why is she afraid to acknowledge the double?
it happens all the time...doubles are used all the time...99.9 per cent of the time,,come nat oncve u have the kid,,show us how the dance went,,prove this woman wrong
I'm guessing Sarah Lane's Hollywood days are over....
I have to agree with Mila Kunis & the director. I saw the movie & Natalie Portman did a fantastic job with the dancing. I completely believe that she did most of the work. I've read that she trained for over a year before the movie started filming & I think she did the best & perfect job for someone who's not a ballerina. I know she's not a ballerina but she sure did & dance like one. Bravo to Natalie Portman & Mila Kunis for their amazing awesome job in Black Swan. Shame on Sarah Lane for starting all this nastiness & not acknowledging how amazing Natalie did in the movie. I hope this nastiness goes away soon.
This girl is PATHETIC! NO ONE is trying to say Natalie did ALL of the dancing,tho she did do ALL of THE ACTING! That is WHY she received the OSCAR (acting NOT dancing)!
Actors always have stand ins and body doubles, especially for action and sexy movies. A credit at the end of the movie is sufficient.
@Emma, i think she did it because she is a real ballerina and its realy not ok, when hollywood say, hej, you worked 25 years until you get to the level of dancing where you are now, and then there are this hollywoodpeople who think they can do whatever they want and say OH Nataly did this in 1,5 year when others need 25 years!!!! natalie did a great job for her acting, i think its no need to lie about the dancing for natalie i never believed what they said about her dancing skils. The oscars are about acting, not dancing. It not ok! They should have been honest. and yes, a lot of people care because its an movie who became an oscar not a cheap tv flick.
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