Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" (Credit: Niko Tavernise/Fox Searchlight)

Actress Natalie Portman put her body through the wringer playing a mentally unstable ballet dancer in director Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming movie Black Swan. Early word is that Portman is a shoo-in for a Best Actress Oscar nod and possibly could win it all.  Mickey Rourke received a Best Actor nomination for Aronofsky’s previous work, The Wrestler (Sean Penn won for Milk), and maybe Academy voters will give one of the filmmaker’s thespians a golden statue come next year.

To prepare for her role as “Nina,” a woman who finds herself competing with a rival ballerina (Mila Kunis), Portman started work on the film a year before production started, as she trained with ballet teacher Mary Helen Bowers.  For the first six months, Portman spent two hours a day learning the nuances of ballet.  As training progressed she added swimming and toning exercises to her workout regimen (as well as three hours of ballet).  Two months before shooting started, the actress immersed herself into the film’s choreography.  “The physical discipline of it really helped for the emotional side of the character because you get the sense of the sort of monastic lifestyle of only working out that is a ballet dancer’s life,” said Portman, who received a Supporting Actress Oscar nod for Closer. “You don’t drink.  You don’t go out with your friends.  You don’t have much food.  You’re constantly putting your body through extreme pain.  You get that sort of understanding of that self flagellation of a ballet dancer.”  Black Swan, which also stars Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder, opens December 1st.  The trailer’s surreal vibe brings back fond memories of the mind bending thriller Pi, and considering Aronofsky’s track record, Black Swan should be one of this year’s best films.

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posted by Greg Srisavasdi