Mila Kunis And Natalie Portman Were Pitted Against Each Other On Set (But Rose Above The Rivalry)

During the filming of the critically acclaimed movie, Darren Aronofsky seemingly wanted to create as much drama as possible in the storyline. To do so, he found ways to make his stars, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, envious of one another. When speaking with the Los Angeles Times in 2010, Portman admitted that she believed Aronofsky wanted to create drama between the off-camera friends.

"He'd say, 'Oh, Mila is doing really well on her stuff. She's so much better than you,'" Portman explained. Since the film was so heavily rooted in competition between its two main characters, the actress theorized that Aronofsky wanted the women to be jealous of one another, which would translate to their fictional characters. Aronofsky maintains he never wanted the two starlets to compete with one another, however, he did have another method for inadvertently building some distance among the stars.