“After directing “The Wrestler” I was kind of sick of men smelling like Ben-Gay around me all the time,” recalled Darren Aronofsky, director of last year’s Oscar-nominated paean to broken-down fighters.
His latest film, “Black Swan” takes place in the world of ballet. “So I was kind of excited about working with some of these incredibly light, floating, artistic women.”
Aronofsky and his “Swan” cast -- including Natalie Portman, Barbara Hershey and Mila Kunis -- spoke to a packed house at TheWrap’s Tuesday night screening of the Oscar hopeful at the ArcLight Sherman Oaks.
On hand as always was TheWrap Editor-in-Chief, Sharon Waxman, who opened the Q&A with a moment of silence for friend and colleague veteran publicist Ronni Chasen, who was mysteriously gunned down Monday night in Beverly Hills.
Waxman and the cast went on to draw parallels between “The Swan” and Brooklyn auteur Aronofsky’s last film, “TheWrestler,” which picked up two Oscar nominations in 2008, stars Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei.
Also see slideshow: Portman, Aronofsky, Hershey & Kunis at TheWrap's "Black Swan" Screening.
Though centered in entirely different worlds, Portman’s character was very similar Rourke’s, Aronofsky admitted,” he said. “They both put their bodies at risk to create their art. They’re both driven by the ambition to entertain and to create beauty in their own ways. One just happens to be about high art, one just happens to be about low art.”
In “Black Swan,” Portman plays Nina Sayer, a rising ballet star tapped to portray the dual Black Swan/White Swan role in a new production of “Swan Lake.” A borderline personality herself, she struggles to maintain her grip on sanity as the pressures of the role mount.
“I liked this idea that we were kind of making a werewolf movie except it was a were-swan movie,” joked Aronofsky. But trying to get the project mounted was no laughing matter.
About four weeks before production was to begin, the director had lunch with his investor, who explained a process by which he would keep renewing loans for less and less interest.
This was right in the middle of the Madoff scandal. “I said, ‘It sounds like a Ponzi scheme’ right to his face. I called my producer and said, ‘We’re f---ed.’” And sure enough, a week later financing fell apart.
“Everyone just keeps saying no to you and you keep going for it,” said Aronofsky. “I had a producer who once said, ‘When everyone’s telling you no, you know you’re doing something right.’
Though Aronofsky had enjoyed considerable success with Fox Searchlight on “The Wrestler,” the studio deferred when it came to backing “Black Swan.” “They made me work on it and they actually had really great notes,” recalled the director.
