Fox Searchlight, the studio behind Black Swan, is standing behind Natalie Portman after her dancing double in the film claimed the Oscar-winning actress only performed “five percent” of the full-body dance moves.
“We were fortunate to have Sarah there to cover the more complicated dance sequences and we have nothing but praise for the hard work she did,” Fox Searchlight said in a statement. “However, Natalie herself did most of the dancing featured in the final film.”
Sarah Lane, an American Ballet Theatre soloist who acted as Portman’s dancing double, claims otherwise, telling EW that Swan producers “wanted to create this idea in people’s minds that Natalie was some kind of prodigy or so gifted in dance and really worked so hard to make herself a ballerina in a year and a half for the movie, basically because of the Oscar.”
Lane has claimed that she was told by executive producer Ari Handel not to talk about her work to journalists (though it was not against her contract to do so).
“It is demeaning to the profession and not just to me,” she said. “I’ve been doing this for 22 years…. Can you become a concert pianist in a year and a half, even if you’re a movie star?”
