Natalie Portman starred in the critically acclaimed and Oscar-winning movie Black Swan. While her acting was immensely praised, the actress also received many compliments on her dancing skills. She soon went on to win an Oscar, where she was once again praised for her incredible portrayal of a ballet dancer.
While Portman was being lauded, her body double for the movie, and a professional ballet dancer Sarah Lane revealed that it was she who did the most work while the actress took up the credit as part of a Hollywood cover-up.
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Natalie Portman’s Body Double Claims She Did The Real Work
Natalie Portman‘s portrayal in the critically acclaimed movie, Black Swan, was praised far and wide for how well she played a professional ballet dancer. Not only was she praised for her acting but her dance sequences were also praised for their perfection.
While it was common knowledge that the actress had a body double for more difficult scenes, it was being told that Portman was the one doing the most work. However, her body double Sarah Lane claimed that it was actually her who did the majority of the work. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the professional dancer stated,
“Of the full body shots, I would say 5 percent are Natalie. All the other shots are me… They wanted to create this idea in people’s minds that Natalie was some kind of prodigy or so gifted in dance and really worked so hard to make herself a ballerina in a year and a half for the movie, basically because of the Oscar.”
Lane also added how demeaning it was for her to get no credit because of a Hollywood cover-up just for the movie to get into the Oscars race.
Natalie Portman’s Body Double Claims She Was Not Given Credit Due To Hollywood Cover-Up
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Sarah Lane claimed that it was impossible for any actor, no matter how accomplished they were, to become a trained ballet dancer in a year and a half. Hence she was specifically told not to speak up about her job even when Natalie Portman took all the credit for her work.
“It is demeaning to the profession and not just to me. I’ve been doing this for 22 years…. Can you become a concert pianist in a year and a half, even if you’re a movie star?”
Even though her role was greatly diminished to just being a ballet dancer, Lane revealed that she wasn’t envious of Portman, instead, she was mad to have been used by Hollywood for a cover-up,
“[Natalie] is an amazing actress, for sure. I know that it’s not a personal thing against me. I know that it’s just a political thing. It’s just unfortunate that I kind of lost credit.”
Even though it has been years since the movie was released and this controversy aired, such instances continue to prevail in Hollywood.
Black Swan can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
