2010 Supporting Actress Blogathon: Barbara Hershey in Black Swan

Stinky Lulu is hosting his annual Supporting Actress blogathon this Sunday, and I thought I’d chime in on my two favorite supporting actress performances of the year. Coincidentally, both are found in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

The first that I’d like to discuss is that of Barbara Hershey as Erica Sayers. She doesn’t have much time on screen but still manages to take Erica past the stereotypical “mad mother” role. She refrains from extremes, never falling into unwarranted subtleties or dipping into Mommie Dearest-like histrionics (I don’t think she cares if Nina uses wire hangers for her clothes), though she is completely electrifying.

Although it comes with quite a few bells and whistles, this character feels real, which is the most admirable trait of Hershey’s superb work. From her first moments on screen it is clear that Erica and Nina (her daughter/main protagonist played by Natalie Portman) have a very close relationship. The joint saying of the word “pretty” is said as if referencing an inside joke. It’s uncomfortable simply due to the awkwardness. Then there’s that brief exchange where she seemingly scoffs her daughter and then turns it around to an endearing compliment at the drop of a hat. Brilliant!

Erica harrowingly shelters Nina from the outside world. She’s either at the ballet studio or at home. Erica’s reaction to Lily when she arrives at her doorstep to see Nina is cold yet immediate. When Nina decides to go out with Lily for some drinks is perhaps unwarranted, there’s an earnest panic there also. That’s not really necessary either, but the fact that Hershey is able to make such laughable worry feel genuine is quite the marvel.

What is perhaps most heartbreaking about Hershey’s work is her final moment on screen. In the tumultuous yet breathtakingly beautiful conclusion, we see her from a distance crying. Her tears come from both her regrets and her knowledge of what is yet to come. It’s devastating to the core.

Like the other characters in the film, Erica is an enigma, yet Hershey puts forth an earnest portrait of what we can see in her. Without this cold and hermitic interpretation of a woman who protects her sweet girl just a bit too much, Black Swan certainly wouldn’t be the same.