I love Natalie Portman, I think she's an amazing actress, but she may not have transformed herself into professional ballet dancer and that's okay. You're allowed to win Academy Awards with someone else performing a good chunk of your stunts, it happens all the time. But I've never seen anyone (movie makers) so desperate to try to cover it up.
I saw the movie. Natalie's intense portrayal of paranoia and pressure was worthy, there's no question. Her character performance was the work of a true film artist. That is not the issue here.
But to make her out to be something more than she was in order to hype everything up and to continue to lie about it is shady. It wasn't a simple omission of facts that led people to believe Portman did most of the dancing in Black Swan... This deception was carefully thought out and planted in the media months before the movie's release, all for an Oscar campaign.
No one is saying Natalie didn't work hard, but what Sarah Lane is saying to 20/20 makes absolute sense. There's no way the Black Swan star learned how to dance like a professional ballerina in such short time. Yet, that's what those involved want Hollywood and movie goers to believe.
I was a competitive dancer growing up and practiced every day until I graduated high school. Not only do you have to train your body for years and years for strength and flexibility in order to learn how to properly execute ballet movements, but to actually look good doing it and make it seem effortless is something you can spend a lifetime trying to perfect. It's not just about technical skill, it's about performance style and such an art form can not be rushed.
Consider a golf game. Can someone train every day for a year-and-a-half and suddenly become the next Tiger Woods? Or can someone hit the gymnasium every day for a year-and-a-half only to win a gold medal in gymnastics at the next summer Olympics? Is it possible for someone to have never put on a pair of skates before yet learn how to play hockey like Wayne Gretzky in a year-and-a-half?
A true ballet dancer can not be interpreted like a painting whether it's art or not. A ballerina is an athlete as well as an artist, and the pros can not be faked. Unless that is, you have a dance double and some serious technology...
There's no way anyone will ever admit what Sarah Lane is claiming is true. But if you were Natalie Portman, wouldn't you want to know you deserved to win Best Actress without your team having to embellish?
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