Darren Aronofsky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Darren Aronofsky
Aronofsky in 2015
Born	(1969-02-12) February 12, 1969 (age 56) New York City, U.S.
Citizenship	United States Poland (from 2024)
Education	Harvard University (BA) American Film Institute (MFA)
Occupation	Film director screenwriter producer
Years active	1997–present
Partner(s)	Rachel Weisz (2001–2010)
Children	1

Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making unique and often intense films that explore deep thoughts and feelings. He has won many important awards, like the Golden Lion and a Primetime Emmy Award, and has been nominated for Academy Awards (Oscars), Golden Globe Awards, and British Academy Film Awards.

Aronofsky studied film and how people live in groups (social anthropology) at Harvard University. Later, he studied directing at the AFI Conservatory. He won several film awards for his student film, Supermarket Sweep. In 1997, he started his own film and TV company, Protozoa Pictures. His first major film, the psychological thriller Pi (1998), won him the Best Director award at the Sundance Film Festival.

He then directed the drama Requiem for a Dream (2000), the romantic fantasy The Fountain (2006), and the sports drama The Wrestler (2008). The Wrestler won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. For his highly praised psychological drama Black Swan (2010), he was nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and BAFTA. The film received 5 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. His later films include the epic Noah (2014) and the psychological horror film Mother! (2017). His drama The Whale (2022) won Oscars for Best Actor (Brendan Fraser) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Early Life and Education

Darren Aronofsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 12, 1969. His parents, Charlotte and Abraham Aronofsky, were teachers with a Polish-Jewish family background. He grew up in the Manhattan Beach area of Brooklyn. He shared that he was "culturally Jewish," meaning his family celebrated holidays and learned about their history, but they didn't go to temple very often. He graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School. His sister, Patti, went to a professional ballet school. His parents often took him to Broadway shows, which made him interested in movies and theater.

When he was younger, Aronofsky studied animals in nature in Kenya in 1985 and Alaska in 1986. He wanted to learn about large hoofed animals. He later said that this experience "changed the way [he] perceived the world." His interest in the outdoors led him to travel through Europe and the Middle East. At 18, he started at Harvard University, where he studied how people live in groups (social anthropology) and also filmmaking. He graduated in 1991. He became very interested in film at Harvard after becoming friends with Dan Schrecker, who wanted to be an animator, and Sean Gullette, who later starred in Aronofsky's first film, Pi. He was inspired by famous directors like Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski, and Spike Lee.

Aronofsky's student film, Supermarket Sweep, was a finalist in the 1991 Student Academy Awards. In 1992, he earned his master's degree in directing from the AFI Conservatory. He won a special award from the institute called the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal.

Filmmaking Career

First Films

Aronofsky's first feature film, Pi, was filmed in October 1997. He raised money for the film by asking friends and family for $100 donations. He promised to pay them back $150 if the movie made money. If it didn't, they would get a special thank you in the credits. The film was made with a small budget of $60,000. Pi premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where Aronofsky won the Best Director award. The film was later released to positive reviews and earned over $3 million. Pi was also one of the first movies ever available to download online.

Aronofsky then directed Requiem for a Dream, a drama based on a novel. He worked with almost the same team as his previous film. Because Pi was successful, he could hire well-known actors like Ellen Burstyn and Jared Leto. The film was released in October 2000 and earned over $7 million worldwide. Aronofsky was praised for his unique directing style. He received an award for how the film showed people dealing with difficult challenges. Clint Mansell has composed the music for most of Aronofsky's films since 1996.

In 2000, Aronofsky was briefly considered to direct a movie based on the children's book Sector 7. Later, Warner Bros. hired him to write and direct Batman: Year One. He wanted to make a more serious and realistic Batman story. He even considered Christian Bale for the role, who later became Batman in Batman Begins. Aronofsky decided not to direct a Batman film after this project didn't move forward. In March 2001, he helped write and produce the horror film Below.

In April 2001, Aronofsky started talking with Warner Bros. about directing a science fiction film with Brad Pitt as the lead. Cate Blanchett also considered joining the film. The movie, which Aronofsky secretly called The Last Man, was put on hold because Blanchett was pregnant.

The film was officially titled The Fountain and had a budget of $70 million. Brad Pitt left the project, which stopped production. In 2004, Warner Bros. restarted the film with a smaller budget of $35 million, and Hugh Jackman took the lead role. Rachel Weisz joined the cast. The Fountain was released in November 2006 and earned nearly $16 million worldwide. Critics and audiences had mixed feelings about it.

Major Successes

Aronofsky with the cast and crew of Black Swan

In 2007, Aronofsky planned to direct The Fighter, but he left the project because it was similar to his upcoming film, The Wrestler. He had the idea for The Wrestler for over ten years. Nicolas Cage was first considered for the main role, but Mickey Rourke took over. Aronofsky said Cage understood that he really wanted Rourke for the part and stepped aside. Filming began in January 2008.

The Wrestler premiered at the 65th Venice International Film Festival. It won the Golden Lion, which is the top award at the world's oldest film festival. The film received great reviews, and both Rourke and Marisa Tomei were nominated for many awards, including Oscars. Rourke won a Golden Globe. The Wrestler earned over $44 million worldwide, making it Aronofsky's most successful film at that time.

Aronofsky's next film was Black Swan, a psychological thriller about a ballerina in New York City. The film had been in development since 2001. It starred Natalie Portman, whom Aronofsky had known for years. She introduced him to Mila Kunis, who also joined the cast. Black Swan premiered at the 67th Venice Film Festival in September 2010 and received a long standing ovation.

Black Swan was highly praised by film critics and received many award nominations, including 12 from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Aronofsky was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director. The film broke box-office records and earned an amazing $329 million. In January 2011, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. On February 27, 2011, Natalie Portman won the Oscar for Best Actress. The film also received an award for how it showed mental health issues. Aronofsky was an executive producer for The Fighter, which also won two Oscars.

Larger Productions

Aronofsky at the premiere of The Whale in 2022

Aronofsky was set to direct The Wolverine, but he left the project due to scheduling conflicts. In April 2011, Aronofsky was chosen to be the head of the jury for the 68th Venice International Film Festival.

In December 2011, Aronofsky directed a music video for Lou Reed and Metallica. He also planned to direct an HBO series called Hobgoblin, about magicians who fight Adolf Hitler during World War II. However, HBO later dropped the show.

In 2011, Aronofsky began working on Noah, a retelling of the Bible story of Noah's Ark. The film had a budget of $115 million. By 2012, the film had secured funding, and Russell Crowe was cast in the main role. The story was also turned into a graphic novel written by Aronofsky. In July 2012, Aronofsky's team started building an ark set in New York. Filming for Noah began in Iceland. The film featured Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Logan Lerman, and Jennifer Connelly. Noah had a very successful opening weekend in Russia and Brazil. Aronofsky did not use live animals in the film, using computer-generated animals instead. He received an award for being a humane filmmaker because of this. In 2015, he was the head of the jury for the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Aronofsky's next film, Mother!, was released in September 2017. It starred Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film was talked about a lot because of its intense scenes. While it received generally good reviews, audiences had very different opinions about it.

In January 2021, his next film was announced: The Whale, based on a play. It starred Brendan Fraser. The Whale premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September 2022 and received a six-minute standing ovation. Brendan Fraser's performance was highly praised and won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. In 2023, Aronofsky directed Postcard from Earth, a special film made for the Sphere in Las Vegas.

In 2024, it was announced that Aronofsky would direct a crime thriller called Caught Stealing for Sony Pictures. It is set to be released in theaters on August 29, 2025.

Documentary Work

In 2018, Aronofsky was an executive producer for One Strange Rock, a 10-part documentary series for National Geographic. The episodes covered topics like the universe's beginnings, life on other planets, and how humans survive. Critics called it "spectacular" and praised how it brought science to life.

Aronofsky also executive produced another National Geographic series called Welcome to Earth, which showed the planet's wonders. It was released in December 2021.

In 2020, Aronofsky produced Some Kind of Heaven, a documentary about a retirement community in Florida. The film followed four residents trying to fit into the community. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2022, Aronofsky produced the documentary The Territory. This film is about the Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people's fight to protect their land in the Brazilian Amazon from deforestation. The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters in August 2022. It received great reviews and won a Peabody Award.

Aronofsky also created and executive produced Limitless for National Geographic, released in November 2022. This six-part series features Chris Hemsworth and explores the science of living longer and healthier.

Directing Style

Aronofsky's first two films, Pi and Requiem for a Dream, were made with small budgets. They used many very short shots put together quickly, sometimes called "hip hop montages." While a typical 100-minute film has about 600 to 700 cuts, Requiem for a Dream has over 2,000. He often uses split screens and very close-up shots. He also uses long shots where the camera is strapped to an actor (called a Snorricam) and time-lapse photography. Aronofsky often switches between extreme close-ups and very wide shots to show how isolated characters might feel.

For The Fountain, Aronofsky used very little computer-generated imagery. He wanted to keep the special effects as natural as possible. In The Wrestler and Black Swan, he used a more subtle directing style to focus on the acting and stories. He filmed both movies with muted colors and a grainy look. He often works with the same team, including cinematographer Matthew Libatique, editor Andrew Weisblum, and composer Clint Mansell. Mansell's music is a very important part of Aronofsky's films.

Themes and Inspirations

Pi includes many references to mathematics and mathematical ideas. In an interview, Aronofsky said he was a big fan of directors like Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini. He also mentioned Roman Polanski, Terry Gilliam, and Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto as inspirations for Pi. The visual style of Pi and Requiem for a Dream is similar to Tsukamoto's film The Iron Man, Tetsuo.

Many people describe Requiem for a Dream as a "film about challenging life situations." However, Aronofsky explained that his movie was about more than just one specific challenge. He said, "The idea that the same inner thoughts go through a person's head when they're trying to quit something, like cigarettes, or when they're trying to lose weight, was really fascinating to me." He wanted to show this idea on screen.

With his friend Ari Handel, Aronofsky created the story for The Fountain. Aronofsky wrote the screenplay. In 1999, Aronofsky felt that The Matrix had changed the science fiction genre. He wanted to make a science fiction film that explored new ideas, like The Matrix and other famous films such as Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey. He wanted to go beyond science fiction films that only focused on technology.

Aronofsky said that the 1957 Charles Mingus song "The Clown" was a major inspiration for The Wrestler. This song is an instrumental piece with a poem about a clown who accidentally discovers that crowds enjoy his pain and eventually harms himself during a performance.

Aronofsky called Black Swan a companion film to The Wrestler. He had an early idea for a project about a love story between a wrestler and a ballerina. He later decided to separate the wrestling and ballet worlds, thinking it was "too much for one movie." He compared the two films by saying: "Wrestling some consider the lowest art... and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both use their bodies in incredible ways to express themselves." Actress Natalie Portman compared Black Swan's mood to Polanski's 1968 film Rosemary's Baby. Aronofsky said Polanski's Repulsion (1965) and The Tenant (1976) were "big influences" on Black Swan.

Aronofsky has also mentioned that he "learned a lot" from Jean-Luc Godard's film Breathless.

Environmental Work

Aronofsky is known for caring about the environment. Some of his films, like Noah and Mother!, can be seen as stories with environmental messages. In 2014, he visited the Alberta Tar Sands with the Sierra Club's Michael Brune and Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2015, he traveled to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with Brune and other leaders.

In 2014, he received the Humane Filmmaker Award for not using live animals in his films.

In 2015, he worked with artist JR on The Standing March, a public art project in Paris. It encouraged leaders at a climate change meeting (COP21) to take action.

He also helped produce the 2022 documentary The Territory, about a Brazilian rainforest tribe fighting to protect their home.

He is a board member of the Sierra Club Foundation and The School for Field Studies.

Personal Life

Aronofsky started dating English actress Rachel Weisz in 2001, and they got engaged in 2005. They lived in New York City and had a son on May 31, 2006. In November 2010, they announced they had separated but were raising their son together.

In September 2016, he began dating American actress Jennifer Lawrence, whom he met while filming Mother!. Their relationship ended in November 2017.

Since 2018, Darren has been in a relationship with Russian actress Aglaya Tarasova.

Aronofsky shared his spiritual beliefs in 2014, saying, "I think I definitely believe. My biggest expression of what I believe is in The Fountain." In 2022, he mentioned that he practices Transcendental Meditation and finds it helpful.

In 2024, he and his sister Patti became citizens of Poland. His lawyer explained that Aronofsky applied for Polish citizenship to honor his parents' wishes.

Filmography

Film

Short film

Feature film

Acting credits

Television

Other credits

Awards and Nominations

Directed Academy Award performances
Under Aronofsky's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations and wins for their performances in their respective roles.

Images for kids

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  Aronofsky with frequent collaborators Matthew Libatique and Andrew Weisblum

See also

In Spanish: Darren Aronofsky para niños