A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."
Acting
Portman's year of ballet training paid off—literally, Oscar gold.
Direction
Aronofsky's handheld camera crawls under your skin like Nina's scratches.
Production
Pink+black color coding tells you who's winning before they do.
Director
Darren Aronofsky
Natalie Portman
Nina Sayers / The Swan Queen
Mila Kunis
Lily / The Black Swan
Vincent Cassel
Thomas Leroy / The Gentleman
Barbara Hershey
Erica Sayers / The Queen
Winona Ryder
Beth Macintyre / The Dying Swan
Benjamin Millepied
David Moreau / The Prince
Ksenia Solo
Veronica / Little Swan
Kristina Anapau
Galina / Little Swan
Janet Montgomery
Madeline / Little Swan
Sebastian Stan
Andrew / Suitor
Toby Hemingway
Tom / Suitor
Sergio Torrado
Sergio / Rothbart
Mark Margolis
Mr. Fithian / Patron
Tina Sloan
Mrs. Fithian / Patron
Abraham Aronofsky
Mr. Stein / Patron
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Portman and Millepied met on set and later married—so she found her Prince in real life too.
Aronofsky bought the rights to 'Perfect Blue' to recycle its doppelgänger-stalking sequence shot-for-shot in Nina's subway scene.
US
