Character;

Bethanie Walker - Tam - Protagonist




I chose my friend Beth to play the part of Tam as she is currently a theatrical studies and performing arts student at my college and is currently learning ballet with the college. I have seen her in previous productions and believe she is ideal for the roll.

For my character I wanted her to be portrayed as a very shy, quaint girl with a vivid imagination of achieveing her dreams. I wanted her to be a character which an audience could relate to no matter what they were going through; not with the fact that Tam is deaf, but overcoming troubles no matter what.
I based Tam's character on Nina Sayers (Protagonist in 'Black Swan', 2010) played by Natalie Portman.
A ballet dancer who dreams of being the main dancer in the infamous "Swan Lake" production. Her strive for perfection eventually leads her to be psychotic and she kills herself when she achieves her standing ovation at the end of the performance. I didn't want my character to be portrayed as psychotic but I wanted her to appear to be emotionally challenged due to her illness.
As it is not immediately obvious that Tam has a disability, I wanted my actress to act as though she was deaf herself (she wore ear plug throughout the duration of filming) to allowe for a more realistic experience for the viewer.

This is a short clip of an interview with Natalie Portman (2010) on Black Swan and why her character is how she is.