Natalie Portman On 'Black Swan': 'I Thought I Was Going To Die'

Ballet entirely consumed Natalie Portman's character Nina in 'Black Swan,' and, as it turned out, the character nearly consumed Portman.

Gracing the cover of this week's Entertainment Weekly, Portman discusses her preparation and difficult filming of the psycho-drama-thriller, for which she trained for a year and got nearly skeletal in appearance.

"There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die," she told the magazine. "It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could sort of take you down."

It was a role that almost never happened -- she wasn't quite sure at first how the film would get made. Then, of course, they found the buzzed about key.

"Everyone was so worried about who was going to want to see this movie," Portman says. "I remember them being like, 'How do you get guys to a ballet movie? How do you get girls to a thriller?' And the answer is a lesbian scene. Everyone wants to see that."

In fact, Portman ended up finding love on the set of the film; she announced on Monday that she is pregnant and engaged to her dancing partner in the movie, Benjamin Millepied.

For more, click over to Entertainment Weekly and pick up their new issue, out on December 31st.