a day ago
Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Darren Aronofsky on 15 Years of Black Swan
Aronofsky: I wanted to bring a documentary vibe to the film. I couldn't think of another horror film in this vein that was shot with a handheld camera. I thought it might take away from the intensity of a scene because the look of it sorta always reminds you there's someone operating the camera. It was a bit of a risk, but it allowed us to break that fourth wall of how one typically shoots theater, and actually go onstage to dance with Natalie. We had to do a lot of takes with a lot of repetition, and it was pretty physically tough on the two of them.
Were there any scenes you found particularly challenging?
Kunis: We would shoot those dancing scenes for hours, and I had bruises all over my ribs just from being lifted over and over again. I also dislocated my shoulder pretty early in the production and thought I was completely screwed, but Darren sent me to an acupuncturist and I somehow came out totally fine.
Photo: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Portman: The only scene that was quite hard to shoot was when Mila and I hooked up. I learned that it's fun to work with your friend until you have to film a sex scene with them. I remember Darren being like, 'You guys only have to do it once and you won't have to do it again.' We were both standing in the room like [heavy, nervous breathing] until Darren yelled action and we just went for it. And he kept his word, we went for it and we didn't have to do any of it more than once. But that was definitely the one scene where I remember getting to set and thinking, I don't feel good about this.
