Natalie Portman reflected on the physical toll behind her Oscar-winning performance in Black Swan.
Portman played Nina Sayers a ballerina losing her grasp on reality in Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psychological thriller.
During her appearance in Wednesday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress revealed that she sustained a serious injury while portraying Sayers.
“I misplaced a rib or something,” Portman said when asked about her worst injury on set. “It, like, went under. It was from being lifted all the time. That was really wild.”
Portman’s dedication to the role was well-documented.
Aronofsky himself described her work as “really hard,” noting that she had to balance acting with the precision of ballet movement for the camera.
Former New York City Ballet dancer Mary Helen Bower, who trained Portman, recalled the grueling preparation.
“The idea is, if you’re going to play a ballerina, you’re going to have to train like one,” she explained.
Sessions often lasted five hours a day, six days a week beginning before dawn and continuing after Portman’s 12-hour filming schedule.
“She goes and works a 12-hour day and meets me at the gym at night, and we’re doing our toning exercises and swimming a mile. And then she goes home and goes to sleep and then we get up the next day and do it again,” Bower said.
The intense regimen paid off.
Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Black Swan cementing the role as one of her career-defining performances.
She has also earned Oscar nominations for Closer (2004) and Jackie (2016).
This year the animated film she lent her voice to Arco bagged nomination for Best Animated Feature.
