Cele|bitchy

Natalie Portman’s Black Swan ballerina body-double calls out the lies (update)
Reese Witherspoon married Jim Toth on her ranch in Ojai on Saturday
Fergie’s new, different look attributed to “new lipstick”
Olivia Munn at the Comedy Awards: pageanty famewhore or cute?

Natalie Portman’s Black Swan ballerina body-double calls out the lies (update)

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 08:00 AM PDT

Earlier this week, we covered an interview the Los Angeles Times did with Benjamin Millepied, Natalie Portman's baby-daddy and choreographer on Black Swan. Benjamin seemed to be defending (sort of) Natalie from criticism that there was perhaps a white-washing regarding her ballet skills in Black Swan. Natalie's "stunt ballerina" Sarah Lane had given an interview in December where she claimed people from the studio "were trying to create this facade that she had become a ballerina in a year-and-a-half. So I knew they didn’t want to publicize anything about me.” Natalie had talked a lot about how much work she did - more than a year of preparation in ballet and dance, transforming her body and losing weight - in many interviews while promoting Black Swan. Benjamin backed her up in the LAT interview, saying that "85%" of what you see on film is actually Natalie. So, of course, Sarah Lane had to give yet another interview, and this time she's really bringing it:

The ballerina who served as a dancing double for Natalie Portman's Oscar-winnning role in Black Swan tells EW she has been the victim of a "cover-up" to mislead the public about how much dancing Portman actually did in the film. "Of the full body shots, I would say 5 percent are Natalie," says Sarah Lane, 27, an American Ballet Theatre soloist who performed many of the film's complicated dance sequences, allowing Portman's face to be digitally grafted onto her body. "All the other shots are me."

Lane's claim follows a March 23 L.A. Times article in which Portman's fiancé and Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied said Lane's work in the film was far less significant. "There are articles now talking about her dance double [American Ballet Theatre dancer Sarah Lane] that are making it sound like [Lane] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettés, and one diagonal [phrase] in the studio," he said. "Honestly, 85 percent of that movie is Natalie."

Lane disagrees. "The shots that are just her face with arms, those shots are definitely Natalie," she says. "But that doesn't show the actual dancing." Lane admits that she was never promised a particular title for her six weeks of work on the film, though she was disappointed to see that she is credited only as "Hand Model," "Stunt Double," and "Lady in the Lane" (a brief walk-on role).

Lane also says that Black Swan producer Ari Handel specifically told her not to talk about her work to the press, even though she claims there was no such stipulation in her contract. "They wanted to create this idea in people's minds that Natalie was some kind of prodigy or so gifted in dance and really worked so hard to make herself a ballerina in a year and a half for the movie, basically because of the Oscar," says Lane. "It is demeaning to the profession and not just to me. I've been doing this for 22 years…. Can you become a concert pianist in a year and a half, even if you're a movie star?"

Reps for Portman, Fox Searchlight, and Handel have yet to provide comments on the matter.

Lane is barely seen in promotional materials for the movie, including a VFX reel posted by studio Fox Searchlight that appears to show all the digital alterations made to key dance sequences. An unverified version of that reel, leaked to YouTube, seems to shows how digital face replacement was used to put Portman's head on Lane's body. (The clip was included in a blog post by Dance Magazine's Wendy Perron, who wrote about Lane's story earlier this month.)

According to Lane, Portman's dramatic transformation into a ballerina — a narrative firmly at the center of her successful Oscar campaign — wasn't as impressive as the public was led to believe. "I mean, from a professional dancer's standpoint, she doesn't look like a professional ballet dancer at all and she can't dance in pointe shoes. And she can't move her body; she's very stiff," says Lane. "I do give her a lot of credit because in a year and a half she lost a lot of weight and she really tried to go method and get into a dancers head and really feel like a ballet dancer."

In interviews, Portman didn't hide the fact that she had used a body double for key sequences in the film, though Lane's name, and the extent of her work, were played down.

"I do have a double for the complicated turning stuff," Portman told EW last November. "It was not anything I ever could have done in a year, nothing I could've caught up with. But I think it was just better for all of us if I did as much as possible."

Lane insists she isn't speaking out of jealousy over Portman's acclaim. "[Natalie] is an amazing actress, for sure," she says. "I know that it's not a personal thing against me. I know that it's just a political thing. It's just unfortunate that I kind of lost credit."

[From Entertainment Weekly]

While it does sound like Lane has a larger axe to grind than lost credit, I completely agree with many of her points, especially "They wanted to create this idea in people's minds that Natalie was some kind of prodigy or so gifted in dance and really worked so hard to make herself a ballerina in a year and a half for the movie, basically because of the Oscar…It is demeaning to the profession and not just to me. I've been doing this for 22 years…. Can you become a concert pianist in a year and a half, even if you're a movie star?" I'd like to see Portman refute that. I really would.

And seriously, what would it hurt for Darren Aronofsky to come out and seriously discuss how much Lane was utilized in the final film, and what Natalie's year of preparation really got her as far as quality? She's got the Oscar already - they can't take it back. If these accusations just sit around, hanging in the air, Natalie's Oscar win does seem tainted, and like the campaign was waged on false pretenses.

Just to play devil's advocate and actually go pro-Portman (I know, shocking!), as I said, it does sound like Lane has an axe to grind. Perhaps it's about money, perhaps about the film production wasting her time, perhaps it's about her genuinely feeling insulted by being ignored. Or maybe Natalie really did do a lot of her own dancing, and Lane is just a famewhore trying to get attention. But if that was the case, why didn't she speak up during the Oscar campaign, when it actually would have gotten so much attention?

So who do you believe - the self-proclaimed wronged ballerina, or Smugface Conceiving The Conception Portman and her Ballet Famewhore K-Fed?

UPDATE: The studio released a statement about Lane's comments. The official response: "We were fortunate to have Sarah there to cover the more complicated dance sequences and we have nothing but praise for the hard work she did. However, Natalie herself did most of the dancing featured in the final film." MOST is not technical enough. I want a percentage!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Reese Witherspoon married Jim Toth on her ranch in Ojai on Saturday

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 06:06 AM PDT

Well, we knew it was happening this weekend, but what's surprising is how many really specific details were leaked. Reese Witherspoon wed her CAA-agent fiancé Jim Toth yesterday in California, on her Ojai ranch. The wedding date "somehow" got leaked a few weeks ago, and now both Us Weekly and People Magazine have, like, intimate details of everything. Here's Us Weekly's take:

Hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Toth! Reese Witherspoon married Jim Toth early Saturday evening at her 6-acre ranch in Ojai, Calif., UsMagazine.com has confirmed.

Wearing a custom-designed Monique Lhuillier gown, the actress, 35, exchanged vows with CAA agent Toth, 40, in front of 120 family members and friends (including Renee Zellweger, and Alyssa Milano, and Tobey Maguire) in the front courtyard of the Ojai house.

Witherspoon’s best friend, Heather Rosenfield, served as matron of honor, and her kids with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe — daughter Ava, 11, and son Deacon, 7 — took part in the ceremony. The Oscar winner’s young nieces served as flower girls.

The “Tennessee Waltz” was the processional music for Toth and the kids, while Witherspoon walked down the aisle to “Here Comes the Bride.” The 20-minute ceremony was officiated by Reverend Jimmy Bartz, founder of Thad’s church in Santa Monica, where the couple have been attending weekly Sunday services. The duo exchanged wedding bands designed by jeweler William Goldberg.

Located 90 miles north of Los Angeles, the Ojai ranch — where the star gardens and keeps horses, donkeys, pigs, goats and chickens — has been Witherspoon’s rural escape for years.

It’s the second wedding for the actress, who divorced Phillippe, 36, back in 2007 after seven years of marriage. Shortly after ending a three-year relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, she and never-married Toth began dating in January 2010. (Although A-list firm CAA also counts Witherspoon as a client, Toth has never represented her.)

The star’s rep confirmed their engagement to Us on Dec. 28, 2010. “They are extremely happy,” the rep said.

About a week later, Witherspoon debuted her engagement bling — a 4-carat, $250,000 Ashocka cut diamond ring from William Goldberg — at a Laker’s Game.

Sources close to the newlyweds tell Us they’re the perfect match. Says one pal of Toth, who’s bonded with her kids: “He’s a very confident guy who takes care of her.”

“[Reese] really wants to be married and have that security with someone,” another insider says. “They feel like they’ve hit the jackpot in this relationship!”

[From Us Weekly]

People Magazine claims they've got the exclusive, and yet they seem to have less details (go here for People's coverage). Which I think means that Reese and Jim are trying to get the covers of both mags next week, right? Probably. Anyway, it sounds like a really nice, respectable, quiet wedding service and I think and hope that Reese and Jim make each other happy in the long run. They truly seem like they "fit" and Reese seems happier with Toth than she's been in a while. Congrats to the couple! I say she’s knocked up within a year. She won’t get pregnant right away, in my opinion, but it will happen by the end of this year, I think.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Fame.

Fergie’s new, different look attributed to “new lipstick”

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 05:32 AM PDT

Since I don't watch American Idol, I missed Fergie's appearance on the show and the subsequent whispering about what she may or may not have done (lately) to alter her appearance. But from these photos taken at her birthday party in Las Vegas on Friday, I'm perfectly willing to discuss this now. Girl got something (else) done. Fergie has long been rumored to get the occasion nip, tuck, or complete overhaul over the years, and while it's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what is new on her face this time, I can say that she looks much different than the last time I paid attention to her. Sure, she's lost some weight and she's got a tan. But losing weight and getting some sun doesn't change your appearance THIS much. Also - has she always been this stacked? I looked up older photos of her boobs, and yes, she's always had a nice-sized bust, these look… bigger.

There is something else funny, though: the denial. Fergie loves her denial. And she married a man who loves denial too. He loves denial almost as much as he loves bonin' budget strippers. Josh Duhamel went on Ryan Seacrest's radio show and claimed that Fergie's new look is all natural, and actually pulls out this line: "I thought she looked amazing [on American Idol]. It’s amazing. You put a different colour on your lips and, uh, rumours fly. But she’s the same, she’s the same Fergie… I sleep right next to her every night. I like it.” Lipstick? For real? Oh, Josh.

UPDATE: Here’s a photo of Fergie from August 2010. I think it’s something in the eye/eyebrow area:

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Olivia Munn at the Comedy Awards: pageanty famewhore or cute?

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 05:20 AM PDT

I have no idea why I've been covering so much Olivia Munn stuff. To me, she's almost exactly like Kate Bosworth or Rachel Bilson - which is to say, completely useless, a talent less famewhore. But unlike Bilson and Bosworth, Olivia is rather new to the famewhore game. It seems like it's just been within the past year that she's really begun to go to every single event, and tried to get her name in every single story. Maybe she got a new publicist or something. Maybe she's trying to show Justin Timberlake that she's got the right stuff to be his A-list girlfriend.

Anyway, these are photos of Olivia at last night's first annual comedy awards. For the most part, it was a sausage party of male comedians, but there were a few women there, and they were all dressed in suits or business-cocktail kind of outfits. Olivia was the only one wearing a bright pageant gown. And why is she there again? Oh, right. Because she's "funny". Because her schtick is "the hot girl who cracks jokes". Right.

A little Jon Stewart, if it makes you feel better. But I'm still mad at him for hiring Olivia for The Daily Show. She's really ruined it, hasn't she?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

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