Mila Kunis Defends Natalie Portman's 'Black Swan' Dancing

Add Mila Kunis to the list of those who have come to the defense of her Black Swan co-star Natalie Portman in the wake of accusations that her body double did most of the dancing in the movie.

"Of the full body shots, I would say 5% are Natalie," American Ballet Theater dancer Sarah Lane recently said. "All the other shots are me."

On Monday, Kunis joined the movie's director, Darren Aronofsky, and Portman's fiance, Benjamin Millepied, in defending the actress, who won an Oscar for her role. Fox Searchlight, the studio behind Black Swan, also has insisted that Portman did most of the dancing in the movie.

"Natalie danced her a– off," Kunis told Entertainment Weekly. "I think it's unfortunate that this is coming out and taking attention away from [the praise] Natalie deserved and got."

Kunis also said Portman has admitted that her techniques were far from perfect.
 
"She'll tell you, no, she was not on pointe when she did a fouette [turn]," Kunis said. "No one's going to deny that. But she did do every ounce of every one of her dances. [Lane] wasn't used for everything. It was more like a safety net. If Nat wasn't able to do something, you'd have a safety net. The same thing that I had -- I had a double as a safety net. We all did. No one ever denied it."
 
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Lane said via email that she earned $6,000 for just over six weeks of work on the movie, which has grossed $281.6 million at the worldwide box office so far.