(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Natalie Portman has praised director Darren Aronofsky for helping her hone her craft.

The actress has recently been receiving praise for her portrayal of ballerina Nina Sayers in new film Black Swan, directed by Darren.

The 29-year-old who received the best actress Golden Globe for the part - has created such excitement that she has been talked of receiving a possible Oscar nomination for her role, an honour that the actress fully attributes to Darren.

Natalie says the director was able to extract more from her as an actress than anyone has previously.

He gave me one of the greatest gifts that any directors ever given me which was after wed try everything that he wanted to do hed give me ten ways to attack a scene, then hed say, Now do this one for yourself. A lot of directors say, OK, this ones a freebie, but to just put it in those words gave me such a different understanding, both for myself and also for the character, that artistry has to do with pleasing yourself not with pleasing someone else and that Ninas key to becoming an artist is finding pleasure herself. Its just stepping out of that whole world of being a child and becoming a woman and an artist, she told Cover Media.

Black Swan was released in the UK on January 21. (C) Cover Media