Natalie Portman went through extreme pain for `Black Swan`

London: Hollywood actress Natalie Portman has revealed that she went through extreme pain to prepare for her character of a ballet dancer in her new film ‘Black Swan’.

The 29-year-old star said she had to live the "monastic" life of a ballet dancer to prepare for the film, and added putting herself through the physical hardships they (ballet dancers) have to endure helped her to get into their right mindset for filming. "The physical discipline of it really helped for the emotional side of the character because you get the sense of the monastic lifestyle of only working out, that is a ballet dancer`s life," a website quoted her as saying. "You don`t drink, you don`t go out with your friends, you don`t have much food and you are constantly putting your body through extreme pain, so you get that understanding of the self-flagellation of a ballet dancer," she added. IANS