Actress: Natalie Portman
Age: 29
Role: Nina Sayers in Black Swan
Synopsis: Black Swan follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance.
She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition.
When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice.
But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality.
Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.
Previous Golden Globe Wins: Portman won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Closer.
Awards For Role: She has already won Best Actress at the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, New York Journalists Association Awards and the Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards.
Critics: “Bolstered by an extraordinary Natalie Portman performance, a work brimming with bottled-up rage and painfully submerged lust.” - Critic’s Notebook.
“Portman gives a meticulously controlled performance that culminates in the most haunting and grandiose cinematic coup de grace of the year.” - Movies.com
“A delirious fever-dream of a psychosexual thriller starring Natalie Portman as a ballerina descending into madness in far and away the best performance of the year.” - New York Post
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Other Nominees:
Tagged in Golden Globes Natalie Portman