Famous
Do you ever look at an actress and feel jealous of their effortless grace? Some of them are just born with it, others might have practiсed enough to make it seem effortless. But what you might be surprised to learn (we sure were) is that quite a few famous actresses used to do ballet. Let’s take a look at the actresses who could’ve been ballerinas if they didn’t choose acting instead.
1. Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman famously played a ballerina in “Black Swan,” but she didn’t do all of the dancing herself. She had a double to do the impressive and difficult parts. But she used to do ballet as a child (not that it would help her in “Balck Swan”) and she did a year of training for the movie. Natalie also enjoys doing barre classes as a way to stay fit and exercise.
2. Zoe Saldana
Zoe Saldana is a huge movie star, and we loved her in “Avatar” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” but as a child and a teenager, she used to do ballet in the Dominican Republic. She was seriously training to become a ballerina until she realized she doesn’t enjoy it anymore and that she just doesn’t have the feet for it. Interestingly enough, her ballet past came in handy in her first breakthrough movie “Center Stage,” which was all about ballet.
3. Charlize Theron
Charlize might be a phenomenal actress now, but it looks like she was seriously trying to become a ballerina before. She began studying ballet when she was only 6, back in South Africa, and only gave up at 19, after she suffered an injury to her knee. That’s 13 years of her life that were dedicated to ballet.
4. Amy Adams
Amy always wanted to become a ballerina and she even got to do a few performances. She also worked as a professional dancer for a while, but eventually Hollywood just took over. Now we know her as an Oscar-nominated actress, the star of “Arrival,” “Nocturnal Animals,” and many other great movies.
5. Neve Campbell
You might know her best as the girl from “Scream,” but Neve got into the National Ballet School in Canada when she was only 9. She even got to do two performances with them. She continued doing ballet until she was 18 and then decided to stop because she’s had quite a few injuries and realized it would be too hard to continue. She even starred in a movie about ballet called “The Company.”
6. Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner is friends with a principal dancer in the New York City Ballet, but that’s not her only tie to dancing. She spent 9 years doing ballet when she was younger before she decided to give it up and pursue acting as a career.
7. Penelope Cruz
When Penelope was a little girl, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. She spent 10 years working for that goal at the National Conservatory in Spain. She says it helped her a lot in life and even in her acting career. Ballet training taught her discipline and she’s very grateful for that. Penelope also says that without a background in ballet she wouldn’t be as determined and her life would be much harder.
8. Elizabeth Moss
You know her as Peggy in “Mad Men” and Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She won her share of Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG awards, and was even nominated for a Tony Award. Who would’ve thought Elizabeth spent 10 years doing ballet in the School of American Ballet in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington before she turned to acting.
