Natalie Portman Joins Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan Project Natalie Portman is attached to play the lead in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, a supernatural thriller set in the world of New York City ballet. The film centres on a veteran ballerina (Portman) who finds herself locked in a competitive situation with a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance. But it’s unclear whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or if the protagonist is simply having delusions. Mark Heyman, a development executive at Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, has done a rewrite of John McLaughlin’s original script for the film, which Mike Medavoy’s Phoenix Pictures and Protozoa are producing.