In June 2015, Misty Copeland found herself in a unique position (no, not fourth, second, or fifth) — the first African-American woman promoted to principal dancer in the history of American Ballet Theatre. Now, at 36, Copeland achieves another landmark, making her movie debut in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Disney’s big-screen adaptation of the world’s best-known ballet, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, and its source material, the E.T.A. Hoffmann story “Nutcracker and Mouse King.” Copeland calls her film role the “icing on the cake” of her recent career success.
As the Ballerina Princess, Copeland reveals the history of the Four Realms to young Clara (Mackenzie Foy) through a ballet interlude. Rather than portraying one of the classic Nutcracker characters, Copeland describes her role as that of storyteller. “I exist [in the film] just to share this story,” she explains.
The studio and producer Mark Gordon approached Copeland directly for the role; for her, saying yes required zero fancy mental footwork. “It was an incredible opportunity for the ballet world to be recognized and appreciated in a way we aren’t,” she says. “This will live on forever, and people will be able to look at me and see a brown ballerina in this movie. At some point it’s not going to be this crazy thing; it’ll be, ‘That’s what a ballerina looks like.’”
The ballerina says she can’t wait for the world to see dancers portrayed as she knows and loves them. “Most dancers are not happy with how we’re represented [on screen]. It’s this exaggerated caricature, whether it’s overly sexualized or everyone has an eating disorder [or] there’s so much conflict and jealousy. This feels like a very pure and beautiful representation of us,” she reflects. “Even people that don’t know ballet, they know The Nutcracker, and it allows you to step outside those stereotypes.… This is an incredible opportunity to bring people into my world.”
Initial release: November 2, 2018 (USA)
Directors: Lasse Hallström, Joe Johnston
Budget: $120–133 million
Production company: Walt Disney Pictures
Adapted from: The Nutcracker, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
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