Mila Kunis had to go through a very extreme diet for her role in the psychological thriller Black Swan, which turns 15 in 2025.
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Kunis, who played ballerina Lily in the 2010 film, gave a joint interview with actress Natalie Portman and revealed that she ate very little while preparing for the role. She lost about 20 pounds (9 kg) for the film.
“My preparation was a lot of dance and very little food — which I know one shouldn’t say, but it’s the truth. I drank a lot of broth and danced 12 hours a day,” the actress told Vogue in the interview published last Friday (15).
Kunis, now 42, added that she and Portman expected to have only three months to prepare for their intensive dance roles. But after the producers lost some funding, the project “was extended to six months.”
“It was unfortunate for Darren Aronofsky, the film’s director, but Nat and I were very happy because we got three extra months to dance,” she explained.
However, she did not hide the brutal physical toll that the intense dance routines had on her body. “We would film those dance scenes for hours, and I had bruises on all my ribs just from being lifted repeatedly.”
“I also dislocated my shoulder right at the beginning of production and thought I was completely screwed, but Darren sent me to an acupuncturist and somehow I was totally fine,” Kunis added.
Meanwhile, Portman, who played the lead role as Nina Sayers, shared that filming Black Swan taught her a lot about the ballet industry.
“I ended up spending a year talking extensively with my coach, who was a former ballerina at the New York City Ballet, and she told me hours of stories that gave so much color and insight into that world.”
“It was like doing investigative journalism, but I was just gossiping with her while doing pliés,” Portman joked afterward.
Photo and video: Divulgação. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
