Neve Campbell knew she'd be in pain training 8 1/2 hours a day for six months to play a ballerina in "The Company," but she was hurting even before she started.
Campbell dislocated her knee while dropping from a helicopter to snowboard on a glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains — a move she said was "really dumb." Then she broke a rib in training while doing a lift wrong and had to film the whole movie that way.
The former "Party of Five" star began dancing when she was 6, but her dreams of a ballet career ended when she had a nervous breakdown at 14.
"I found that I'd lost my passion for dance. Emotionally I couldn't handle things anymore," the 30-year-old told AP Radio Tuesday.
"I think I have the faculties to be able to handle things" now, she said.
The film, directed by Robert Altman, takes an in-depth look at a professional dance company. Campbell plays a ballerina whose inner conflicts jeopardize her advancement to a starring role in her dance troupe, which features members of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
Campbell said the company offered her a job after filming, but she declined.
"It wouldn't really make sense for my career," she said. "The dancers go through all this pressure and all this discipline. They make so many sacrifices, and on average, the career ends at 35, so if I were to start again, I'd be done in five years."
"The Company" opens in limited release on Christmas.