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Natalie Portman's dance double: Sarah Lane 'just did the footwork,' says Benjamin Millepied
It's been more than a couple months since Natalie Portman's "Black Swan" dance double opened up to Dance Magazine about her time on the set. Back in December, before Portman's big Oscar win, Sarah Lane said that she was "not really looking for any sort of recognition," but it seems she may be changing her tune. Dance Magazine is now reporting that Fox Searchlight producers had asked Lane to stop giving interviews until after the Oscars in an attempt to give Portman more credit than she may have deserved.
"They were trying to create this façade that she had become a ballerina in a year and a half," Lane is quoted as saying. "So I knew they didn't want to publicize anything about me."
Part of said façade included a glaring omission from Portman's Best Actress acceptance speech and a misleading IMDB credit. Something Dance Magazine refers to as a "blackout."
The actress' fiance and choreographer Benjamin Millepied is defending his lady love's honor, telling the LA Times that, "Honestly, 85% of that movie is Natalie."
He adds, "There are articles now talking about her dance double that are making it sound like [Lane] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettés, and one diagonal [phrase] in the studio."
Dance Magazine disagrees, claiming that "All the pirouettes, the full-body shots, and just-the-legs shots were [Lane]."
The ballerina, who seems to be caught in the middle here, insists that she doesn't need recognition, but merely wants the dance profession to get the credit it deserves.
"As professional dancers, we work so hard, but people can actually believe that it's easy enough to do it in a year," Lane complains. "That's the thing that bothered me the most."
[Update:] Lane spoke with Entertainment Weekly following Millepied's LA Times interview, saying, "Of the full body shots, I would say 5% are Natalie."
She also adds, "The shots that are just her face with arms, those shots are definitely Natalie. But that doesn't show the actual dancing."
You can see Lane for yourself in the visual effects video below, which illustrates the before and after of Portman's face replacement. There is currently no comment from team Portman on the situation thus far.
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Photo/Video credit: Fox Searchlight
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The video is gone, and no longer exists where it can be seen on the internet. A new one does exist, but Fox Searchlight had it re-edited to remove the shots that were spoke of in the article. No more CGI "head replacement" shots of Sarah Lane dancing, and Natalie's face added instead. Why?
Maybe Sarah Lane should get an agent so she can have better credit representation since body doubles really need to have better representation.
I side with Sarah Lane. She was right to make the clarifications she has. It appears that the film credits given to a world-class, elite ballerina who I understand did 40 takes of the black swan premiere night performance were lacking. Even Harvard-educated, ordinarily well-spoken Natalie Portman referred to Lane's work on the film as the "complicated turning stuff". If that' s not the understatement of the year. Mastery of ballet is on a exceedingly high level of accomplishment.
Sarah Lane is not a "nobody" in the arts and deserved better. Comparisons to stunt double protocol re other films is absurd in this case. Black Swan is not Pretty Woman. She lent enormous credibility to the portrayal of Nina and to the entertainment value of this tacky, overwrought body horror film.
I side with Sarah Lane. She was right to make the clarifications she has. It appears that the film credits given to a world-class, elite ballerina who I understand did 40 takes of the black swan premiere night performance were lacking. Even Harvard-educated, ordinarily well-spoken Natalie Portman referred to Lane's work on the film as the "complicated turning stuff". If that' s not the understatement of the year. Mastery of ballet is on a exceedingly high level of accomplishment.
Sarah Lane is not a "nobody" in the arts and deserved better. Comparisons to stunt double protocol re other films is absurd in this case. Black Swan is not Pretty Woman. She lent enormous credibility to the portrayal of Nina and to the entertainment value of this tacky, overwrought body horror film.
I side with Sarah Lane. She was right to make the clarifications she has. It appears that the film credits given to a world-class, elite ballerina who I understand did 40 takes of the black swan premiere night performance were lacking. Even Harvard-educated, ordinarily well-spoken Natalie Portman referred to Lane's work on the film as the "complicated turning stuff". If that' s not the understatement of the year. Mastery of ballet is on a exceedingly high level of accomplishment.
Sarah Lane is not a "nobody" in the arts and deserved better. Comparisons to stunt double protocol re other films is absurd in this case. Black Swan is not Pretty Woman. She lent enormous credibility to the portrayal of Nina and to the entertainment value of this tacky, overwrought body horror film.
Before Sarah Lane signed a contract and took a role. She knew the studio wouldn't give her the credit.Why bother to ask for a credit now?
This whiny woman knew what she was signing up for. It sounds like she's just trying to capitalize on the notoriety of Natalie Portman and the Black Swan film at this point.
Sarah Lane and the other dancers SHOULD get credit where credit is due. Period.
One cannot learn to be a master of ballet or martial arts in a year. I don't think Ms. Portman meant to be dismissive of their help, but was seeking to preserve the mystery of filmmaking, which in this day and age, no mystery.
Well, I don't know any film where the body-doubles really get any well-recognition. They have to give (especially) Natalie Portman, and the main cast, as much credit as possible to promote the film. She won an Oscar for her acting as a whole, not just the ballet dance part.
First of all what is the problem here, the Oscar was for Best Actress, not the best dancer or best physical acting or the quickest dance learner. And I agree, Do not agree and sign a contract that states that you will not get any credit. There is nothing wrong with wanting credit, but don't agree to something that states your contributions are going to be un-credited. And do not tell people that you don't want recognition, cause you do or else you wouldn't be talking about this to anyone who listens. If you want recognition for the professional dancers then you can go about it differently, such as making sure you know what you are agreeing to. Lane clearly regrets her decision, and does want recognition, she is trying to put down Natalie Portman to make herself look better.