When Darren Aronofsky met Natalie Portman at a Times Square diner in 2000, the rising starlet was a junior at Harvard, fresh off the first Star Wars prequel. Aronofsky, who had just broken through with his grippingly bleak addiction drama Requiem for a Dream, wanted Portman to play a ballet dancer in his next film.
“He didn’t even have a script yet,” Portman tells Vogue. “But when he told me he wanted to make something in the world of ballet, I was just excited to explore that with him.”
Aronofsky’s younger sister studied ballet, and her stories of backstabbing dancers and gruesome injuries—combined with the plot of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Double and a script that had been floating around about two actresses competing for a role in an Off-Broadway show—eventually morphed into Black Swan. A bold and sensual fantasia, the film starred Portman as a dancer selected to play the dual lead roles in her company’s production of Swan Lake. A natural fit for the delicate, beautiful White Swan, Odette, the shy and virginal Nina struggles to capture the seductive energy demanded by Odile, the Black Swan. But when a dancer named Lily (Mila Kunis) threatens to claim the part, Nina’s pursuit of perfection—exacerbated by pressures from the company and her mother (Barbara Hershey), herself a former ballerina—sends her to the brink.
It took Aronofsky and Portman over a decade—and a lot of “kicking and screaming,” as he puts it—to convince Fox Searchlight to put up half of the film’s $13 million budget and ultimately get Black Swan into theaters. But to be fair, when have studio executives ever foamed at the mouth to make an arthouse horror film set in the world of ballet, one that ends with its heroine taking her own life?
“Everyone passed on Black Swan, and I mean everyone," Aronofsky says. “There was one executive who said the movie would never work because ‘ballet fans don’t like horror, and horror fans don’t like ballet.’”
Yet his and Portman’s belief in the material paid off. When Black Swan debuted in December 2010, it raked in nearly $330 million worldwide, becoming Fox Searchlight’s second-highest-grossing film to date after Slumbdog Millionaire. Portman won the best-actress Oscar for her electrifying performance, and the film received four other nominations—for best picture, director, cinematography, and editing—among numerous other accolades.
This summer, on August 21 and 24 only, a newly remastered version of the film will play on IMAX screens across the country, where attendees can also snag—on a first-come, first-serve basis—a limited-edition, double-sided poster created exclusively for the re-release. And in December, Rodarte—which produced a few key costumes in the film, including Portman’s show-stopping stage looks for the finale—will launch a limited-edition Black Swan capsule collection.
Here, to commemorate 15 years of Black Swan, Aronofsky, Portman, and Kunis reunited to chat with Vogue about the making of the film.
Vogue: When was the last time each of you saw Black Swan?
Natalie Portman: The only time I’ve watched it in full was at the premiere in Venice. But we went to so many Q&As where we’d have to watch the last 10 minutes over and over, so I remember that part quite well.
Mila Kunis: I don’t think I’ve watched it since the premiere.
Darren Aronofsky: My team oversaw this new IMAX version while I was finishing the mix for Caught Stealing. I haven’t gotten to see it yet, but they were thrilled with the results. I saw it, like, three or four years ago—Lin-Manuel Miranda hosts a film series in Washington Heights and asked me to come talk about it, so I watched it then and was actually kind of stunned. It’s a pretty crazy movie.
Natalie, I read that Darren first approached you about playing a ballet dancer in 2000. What about the idea stayed with you over the years, and made the film such a priority for you to make?
Portman: I just wanted to work with Darren. I was deeply invested in ballet as a kid—I was just excited to explore that with him. Darren and I talked at that initial meeting about the ways women and girls are so highly regarded as the center of this artform, but also constricted and controlled in so many ways. It was also a fascinating dynamic to place female characters in because they’re really set out to compete against each other.
I read that you recommended Mila for the role of Lily?
Portman: You can tell your side, Mila, but we had been friends for years and I remember being at the Rose Bowl Flea Market with her, talking about this ballet movie I was making with Darren. Mila said, “I remember when I would take off my pointe shoes…” and I was like, “Wait, you did ballet?!” I immediately called Darren and said there was this amazing actress with ballet experience who would be perfect for Lily.
Kunis: I think I said, “I danced once,” and that got twisted into me having taken pointe.
Portman: I may have exaggerated on your behalf!
Aronofsky: Around the time we were casting that role, I watched that movie where Mila works at a hotel in Hawaii [2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall]. I thought she was amazing, so I told Natalie I would love to talk to her.
Kunis: My team said, “They’re gonna fly you to New York—” and I was like, “I am not flying to New York. That’s a bit much for a lunch meeting. We can Skype.” They thought I was a psycho, and I was being a little asshole. But I came into that first meeting, like, “I’m in, whatever you guys want me to do I’ll fucking figure it out.”
Darren, I read that at one point you considered having the same actress play Nina and Lily. Why did you ultimately opt for separate actors, and what about Natalie and Mila in particular made them right for their respective roles?
Aronofsky: More than anything it’s about their energies. It was clear early on that I was working with Natalie. The script was constantly evolving and Natalie was a big part of that. She even wrote the last line in the movie. [“I felt it—perfect. It was perfect.”] With Mila, I felt like we connected in a way that felt different from the way I connected with Natalie. You never really know, going into a film, how it’s all going to blend, but I do believe in the casting gods that things work out for a reason.
What did the prep work look like for each of you?
Kunis: My prep was a lot of dancing and very little eating—which I know you’re not supposed to say, but it’s the truth. I drank a lot of broth and danced for 12 hours a day. We were only supposed to have three months of prep before filming started, but we lost some financing, so that got extended to six months while Darren tried to find money. It sucked for Darren, but Nat and I were so happy because we had three extra months to dance.
Portman: We didn’t have any rehearsals beyond the dancing. One of the most surprising side effects of doing the physical training was that I ended up spending a year talking extensively to my trainer, who was a former New York City Ballet dancer and told me hours of stories that gave so much color and insight into that world. It was like doing investigative journalism, but I was just gossiping with her while doing pliés.
Natalie, can you talk me through how you discovered Nina’s voice?
Darren and I talked a lot about Nina’s voice because so many of the women we met in the ballet world had very girlish voices. Not all of them, but some standout individuals had almost little girl voices—which I see in many walks of life, because there is this real insistence on keeping a woman a girl. We really wanted to fluctuate between a “white swan” voice and a “black swan” voice.
Were there any other observations that ended up in the film? A story or detail from the world of ballet that struck you?
Aronofsky: There were so many. The aesthetic details of that world were particularly fascinating to me—everything from the way the dancers prepare their shoes to the way their feet look by the end of a performance.
I watched some BTS footage and it looked like a fairly guerilla production—just Darren with a handheld camera and two or three crew guys running around New York City.
Aronofsky: That’s generally how I’ve made films. I’m all-in, and these two were definitely all-in. It was an all-consuming experience because I had nothing else going on in my life.
Kunis: Darren would call me at two in the morning and say, “Hey, can you get to the subway? We’re going to shoot at 86th Street.” I didn’t have kids so I was like, “Sure, whatever.” A lot of times we’d show up to a street corner and shoot without a permit. I don’t think any of that could happen today.
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.
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.
Kunis: To tell you the truth, I completely forgot about that scene [laughs]. I was just quickly thinking through the movie like, Hmm what was hard? I totally blocked that out.
Natalie, I read that you injured yourself pretty badly during the scene in your dressing room where Nina pushes Lily—herself?—into the mirror.
Portman: I don’t remember that?
Kunis: Nat, I remember shooting with you the day after you shot that scene. You were scarred up all around your neck. Darren was like, “Yeah she really went for it.”
Portman: I completely blacked that out. Not a hint of a memory.
And Darren, I read that you subtly tried to pit Natalie and Mila against each other during shooting in the hopes that it would aid their performances.
Aronofsky: My take is that I was trying to be a sneaky director and make them argue. Mila and Natalie both realized very quickly what I was doing and made fun of me, so it quickly became a joke that we all understood. They’re both very clever and were instantly privy to whatever trick I was playing. Do you guys remember it differently?
Portman: I remember being separated from Mila and that we weren’t in the same space a lot when we weren’t shooting. Darren made some comment early on, like, “Ya know, Nat, Mila’s dancing so well.” And I was like, “Of course she is! She’s so fucking talented and I love her so much and I’m happy she’s doing a great job!”
Kunis: Darren would tell me, “Nat is working really, really hard. She’s not even taking Saturdays and Sundays off.” Then I would text Nat and she’d be like, “…No, I’m not?” I think that’s how we figured out what Darren was up to, but it was all in good fun.
Portman: Black Swan was the first time I felt like I had a mind meld with a director, where each of us always knew exactly what to say. Every time we talked it felt like he gave me a little key that unlocked a scene for me.
One of the themes of Black Swan is the idea Vincent Cassel’s character posits, that truly great art has to be borne out of pain or chaos for an artist to experience that transcendent sort of self-loss. I’m curious if any of you have any strong feelings about that, in relation to your industries?
Kunis: I remember doing press for Black Swan and every journalist wanted to know how scary Darren was: “How intense was his set? How intense was he?” I would say, “He’s actually a really kind, lovely guy who took us to see Twilight one time because we had the day off.” And journalists were always so disappointed that he wasn’t some tortured soul who treated us like garbage. I think you can have fun on set, do the work, go home, and live a great life.
Aronofsky: My sets are always relaxed, no matter how intense the subject matter may be. But between action and cut, when everything is building up to that moment, everybody’s taking the job very seriously. It’s a lot of work, and in work there is always a certain amount of suffering. Even just the physical pain of training for a role.
Portman: Black Swan was deeply challenging but it was a wonderful experience. Our set wasn’t silly, but everyone was kind and respected one another. If you told me I could make a masterpiece by suffering, I would opt out at this point, because life’s too short.
What did you think of the finished film once you saw it?
Portman: I think the first time I saw it in full was at Venice. But I had seen most of it because we recorded that voiceover track—do you remember that, Darren?
Aronofsky: No?
Portman: You had this idea where the score would be me creepily humming the Swan Lake music over a piano. You didn’t end up using it but I saw a lot of the movie because we just went through it while you recorded me humming. You don’t remember? I mean, it obviously didn’t work.
Aronofsky: I tend to forget my bad ideas, but that sounds cool. I can imagine you doing that with your gentle White Swan voice. I’ve gotta try and find that.
Black Swan became one of the buzziest films of 2010 as soon as that first trailer dropped and those early reactions came out of Venice. Did that feel pretty gratifying after the years you’d spent developing it?
Aronofsky: It was gratifying because it felt like a movie people were excited about. Venice was in September and the film didn’t come out until that December, but I remember going to a few Halloween parties in New York where multiple people were dressed like Natalie as the Black Swan. I was like, What the hell is going on? No one has even seen the movie yet!
Kunis: After I did the movie there was radio silence, then I suddenly got a call from my manager, saying I’d won a prize at Venice. I made Black Swan thinking it’d be an amazing little indie that a few people would see. The whole thing went from zero to 100, and then it just kept snowballing into this phenomenon.
Portman: I didn’t quite understand the tone of the movie while we were shooting, and was pretty surprised by what it ended up being. That first time watching it was shocking and exhilarating in a really wonderful way. I had no comprehension of the scope of Darren’s vision while we made it. The success was incredible, but like Darren said, the main goal is always to become a Halloween costume—or a drag routine. I feel like this movie really put us in that canon, which is very exciting for me.
I have definitely seen queens dressed as your characters who interpolate dialogue from the film into their routine.
Portman: That’s my dream. It really is my main goal with everything I do as an actor.
This conversaiton has been edited and condensed.