Natalie Portman is getting thrashed these days—first by her dance-training, now by the movie critics. But check out what she told the New York Times recently about preparing for her punishingly difficult role in The Black Swan:

“When Ms. Portman, 29, took the part, she said, ‘I really thought I was better than I was.’ She wasn’t completely new to ballet, having studied as a child, but at 13 she had traded in her slippers to act.

‘It was a rude awakening to get there, and to be, like, I don’t know what I’m doing,’ Ms. Portman said by phone, ‘If I had known how not close to ready I was, I never would have tried it. I’m glad I was a little ignorant slash arrogant.’”

I say, BRAVA, Natalie. Speaking as an entrepreneur, I believe that to create anything, to accomplish anything, you have to step—then pirouette—outside of your comfort-zone. Not coincidentally, your comfort-zone is shared by many other people. When you step over the line, THEY feel threatened, unsafe, and pretty unexciting. So they tell you to come home, just forget about whatever crazy thing you’re doing, and sit with them on the couch with a nice big bag of crisps and watch “The Simpsons”. When you refuse to do so, they call you ignorant, arrogant, or both.

“Arrogant” is also being used a lot in reference to the massively expensive and ambitious Broadway production of SPIDERMAN, which has already resulted in a few fairly serious injuries among the performers because the stunts are so daring. But haven’t you really, secretly always wanted to fly?

Sure, staying on the couch seems safer. Your feet will never hurt, and you’ll never break a bone. No one will ever laugh at you. But nothing can be more dangerous—more deadly—than living without an imagination.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 23rd, 2010 at 10:36 am and is filed under under my skin with jane wurwand, founder of dermalogica.