* ActorSharedBackground: Both Creator/NataliePortman and Creator/MilaKunis were trained in ballet when they were children. Their characters in the film are also ballet dancers.
* BannedInChina: The movie was temporarily banned in Barbados due to the lesbian sex scene between Nina and Lily, which censors saw as "offensive sexual behavior." Public protest and a petition against the ban got it overturned and the film was eventually released with an R-rating.
** The film is also banned in the United Arab Emirates for sexual themes considered too taboo for the country's sensibilities. It would have been released with cuts made, but Mohammad Naser, the UAE cinema censor, declared that there would be too much to cut and that there's no point in showing a butchered film.
* CareerResurrection: Provided one for Creator/BarbaraHershey. Her MediaNotes/{{BAFTA}}-nominated performance as Erica saw her getting more roles, notably ''{{Film/Insidious}}'' and in ''Series/OnceUponATime''.
* CastTheExpert:
** Creator/NataliePortman recommended Creator/MilaKunis for the role of Lily after discovering that she had casually done ballet as a child.
** Many of the background corps dancers are played by actual members of the New York City Ballet.
* TheDanza: Sergio Torrado as Sergio (the dancer playing Rothbart in the ''Swan Lake'' production).
* DeletedRole: Creator/MarkMargolis appeared in the film as a favor to Creator/DarrenAronofsky, but his dialogue was cut.
* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/NataliePortman and Creator/MilaKunis lost 20 pounds each to play ballet dancers. They also both learned ballet for months prior to shooting, five hours a day. This phenomenon, of course, is the entire point of the movie.
* EnforcedMethodActing: Creator/NataliePortman said that Creator/DarrenAronofsky tried to create a rivalry between her and Creator/MilaKunis, by keeping them apart and telling each that the other one is doing a better job. [[AvertedTrope This didn't work]]; instead they'd text congratulations to one another when this happened.
* MethodActing: Creator/NataliePortman got formal ballet training for a year to prepare for the role. And she also paid for it out of her own pocket, as the film had not found investors yet. She hadn't even received an official script when she began the training. Also when she injured herself, the budget couldn't afford a medic — so she told them to get rid of her trailer.
* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/MilaKunis is more known for her comedic roles. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], as many of her scenes are actually either light or outright hilarious.
* PlayingWithCharacterType: Creator/BarbaraHershey as MyBelovedSmother and MamaBear at the same time.
* RealLifeRelative: Mr. and Mrs. Stein are played by Abraham and Charlotte Aronofsky — Darren Aronofsky's parents.
* ReferencedBy:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwceShXwIyc In a vlog]] by Canadian figure skater Roman Sadovsky, he describes the [[https://www.facebook.com/RyersonUniversityFilmFestival/photos/a.1549891241892009/2037729073108221/?type=3&theater 2018 Canadian short film]] (which would later be titled ''Attainment'') that he stars in as, "[The director] is basically trying to capture all the darkest parts of figure skating. It's like ''Black Swan'', but figure skating."
** Music/{{BTS}}'s song "Black Swan" and its music video have several references to this movie. The song is part of the "shadow" section of ''MAP OF THE SOUL: 7'' ("shadow" being the unconscious/unknown side of the self, as opposed to the "persona") and thus is about the darker elements of fame (in the lyrics, about the fear of a musician of losing the ability to feel anything from music), much like Nina in ''Black Swan'' struggles with darker elements of both ballet and herself. The music video goes as far as showing the members on a stage from the perspective of a performer ([[https://twitter.com/tybutdisagree/status/1235308439053758464 even with the use of backlighting]]) and referencing the MirrorScare scene and [[spoiler:the scene where Nina as the Black Swan sprouts wings]].
* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/NataliePortman and the film's choreographer Benjamin Millepied. They're now married and have two children together. It became HilariousInHindsight as Benjamin Millepied is the guy Thomas asks if he would do Nina, Natalie's character. He answers no. Portman, heavily pregnant during her thank you speech at the Golden Globes, said: "He's the best actor! It's not true! He totally wants to sleep with me!"
* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The script was in development for ten years before it got made.
* StarMakingRole: While both Kunis and Portman were already renowned actresses before the film came out — the latter probably more so than the former — the film has almost certainly increased both their credentials as "serious" thespians. Portman even won an Oscar for her performance. Contrast this role with others that Portman shot before it but which were released after, such as ''Film/YourHighness'', for a marked illustration of this effect.
* ThrowItIn: Nina's line "I just want to be perfect" wasn't in the original script and was added by Creator/NataliePortman during rehearsals.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/SummerGlau revealed at Emerald City Comic Con 2012, that she had auditioned for a supporting role in this movie, but during the pre-production stages, the character was cut from the story.
** This was originally going to be the story of ''Film/TheWrestler'' too, with Cassidy being a ballerina. Creator/DarrenAronofsky quickly realized the concept was too much for one movie and developed them separately.
** Creator/MerylStreep was considered to play the role of Erica.
** Creator/RachelWeisz, Creator/ParkerPosey and Creator/JenniferConnelly were all considered for the role of Beth — before it went to Creator/WinonaRyder.
** Creator/AntonioBanderas and Creator/HughJackman were considered for Thomas Leroy.
* WordOfGod: Creator/DarrenAronofsky confirmed that Nina [[spoiler:does not die at the end, and that her bleeding is merely symbolic of her becoming a woman.]] Natalie Portman agrees with this statement; she had been uncomfortable with the positioning of [[spoiler:the blood around Nina's stab wound, feeling it looked too much like menstrual blood.]] Aronofsky said it was intentional.

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