Kelly Clarkson didn’t come to play.
In an intense session of Oscar trivia on Monday’s “The Kelly Clarkson Show” emcee’d by “Bros” funnyman Guy Branum, guest Natalie Portman was caught by surprise by Clarkson’s Hollywood know-how, even at one point admitting she’s “kind of” asleep when Branum ribbed her about the 3-0 shutout.
But the highlight of the game came when Clarkson beat Portman to the buzzer on a question about Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 horror fantasia “Black Swan,” a project that won Portman her lead actress Oscar.
The game, cheekily titled “May I Have Another December” in a nod to Portman’s current Netflix feature costarring Julianne Moore, kicks off in the segment above with Portman down and Branum offering her a pep talk.
“Alright, get it together. You’re representing for everyone from ‘No Strings Attached,’” Branum said. “Question 3: What movie was a winner of four Oscars — four, definitely four — and followed a pair of brothers, one who could count cards and tell how many toothpicks drop from a box?”
Clarkson buzzed in first, correctly guessing “Rain Man,” starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
“I am ashamed,” Portman lamented as Clarkson danced around the stage chanting “Oh my god.”
That brought the scoreboard to 3-0 in favor of Clarkson.
“I honestly did not think I was going to do well at this,” Clarkson said.
“Natalie, you can do this, OK?” Branum encouraged. “I want you to just center yourself. I want you to find your pride and I want you to fight for that pride. OK. Question 4: What film featured a young dancer in the New York City Ballet slowly going — Kelly Clarkson!”
Clarkson didn’t even let Branum finish before correctly guessing “Black Swan,” but the clue presumably was along the lines of “slowly going insane.”
“I’m so sorry,” Clarkson said before filing her answer, causing Portman to hang her head in shame.
“Just so — wait, wait. Just so you know, I have lost games to my own songs,” Clarkson said in an effort to comfort Portman. “Anne Hathaway just annihilated me on ‘Since U Been Gone.’ Yeah, I’ve sang it once or twice. It was a great film, ‘Black Swan’!”
Watch the full clip from “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in the video above.
