In the film, which is directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream), Hershey plays the overbearing mother of her ballerina daughter, Nina (Natalie Portman).  The story follows Nina, who is cast as the Swan Queen in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake after the company’s artistic director (Vincent Cassel) fires his aging prima ballerina (Winona Ryder).  Playing the Swan Queen means portraying two sides of the character – both the pure and the dark.  Nina struggles with the latter, having been sheltered by her mother for her entire life.

Hershey’s role required her to play a mother who, having had her own career as a ballerina, makes sure Nina’s life revolves around and is dictated by dance.  Her suffocating manner and watchful eye begins to take its toll on Nina as she is propelled into a whole new world she didn’t expect finding in the company.

This is not the first time Hershey has been recognized for her performances in movies.  The talented actress has won and been nominated for several awards over the years, including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1997 for Portrait of a Lady.  She won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as the lead actress in A Killing in a Small Town.  Hershey also won the Best Actress Award twice at the Cannes Film Festival for the films A World Apart and Shy People.

One of her more famous films is Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for her supporting role.  In it, she plays the sister of Dianne Wiest, who has also guest starred in Season 7 of Road to Avonlea.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for Hershey’s involvement in the pending Oscar race.  In the meantime, fans can enjoy her performance as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning.  Starting November 1, Public Television stations across the United States will be able to air the film (check your local listings).  To read more about the actress, please click here.