I was able to own my meaning and not have it be determined by box office receipts or prestige.
By the time I got to making Black Swan, the experience was entirely my own.
I felt immune to the worst things anyone could say or write about me, and to whether an audience felt like going to see my movie or not.
It was instructive for me to see that ballet dancers — for ballet dancers once your technique gets to a certain level, the only thing that separates you from others is your quirks or even flaws.
One ballerina was famous for how she turned slightly off balanced.
You can never be the best, technically.
Someone will always have a higher jump or a more beautiful line.
The only thing you can be the best at is developing your own self.
Authoring your own experience was very much what Black Swan itself was about.
I worked with Darren Aronofsky, the film’s director, who changed my last line in the movie to: it was perfect.