Hilary Ann Swank,born July 30, 1974 is an American actress. Her film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid (1994), where she played Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi. She has become known for her two Academy Award-winning performances: first as Brandon Teena, a transgender man (FTM) in the movie Boys Don't Cry (1999), and a struggling waitress-turned-boxer, Maggie Fitzgerald, in Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Early life
Swank was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the daughter of Judy Kay (née Clough), a secretary and former dancer, and Stephen Michael Swank, who was an officer in the Air National Guard and later a traveling salesman. She has a brother, Daniel. Swank's surname is of German origin. Her maternal grandmother was of Spanish and Shoshone Native American ancestry, and many of Swank's family members hail from Ringgold County, Iowa. Swank came from humble beginnings, particularly as a child growing up in a trailer park near Lake Samish in Bellingham, Washington, to which she moved at age six, after having lived in Spokane, Washington. Swank has described her younger self as an "outsider" who felt that she belonged "only when [reading] a book or [seeing] a movie, and could get involved with a character," and was thus inspired to become an actress.
When Swank was nine years old, she made her first appearance on stage, starring in The Jungle Book. She became involved in school and community theater programs, including those of the Bellingham Theatre Guild, and attended Sehome High School in Bellingham until she was sixteen. Swank also competed in the Junior Olympics and the Washington state championships in swimming; she ranked fifth in the state in all-around gymnastics. Swank's parents separated when she was thirteen, and her mother, supportive of her daughter's desire to act, moved to Los Angeles, where they lived out of their car until Swank's mother saved enough money to rent an apartment. Swank has described her mother as the inspiration for her acting career and her life.In California, Swank enrolled in South Pasadena High School (although she later dropped out of school) and started acting professionally. She helped pay the rent with the money she earned appearing in television programs such as Evening Shade and Growing Pains.
Career
Swank's first leading film role was in The Next Karate Kid (1994), which utilized her gymnastics background and paired her with Pat Morita. It was the fourth movie in the Karate Kid series. In September 1997, Swank was cast as single mother Carly Reynolds on Beverly Hills, 90210. She was initially promised it would be a two-year role, but saw her character written out after 16 episodes in January 1998. Swank later stated that she was devastated at being cut from the show, thinking, "If I'm not good enough for 90210, I'm not good enough for anything."
The firing freed her to audition for the role of Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry. Swank reduced her body fat to seven percent in preparation for the role. Many critics hailed hers as the best female performance of 1999, and Swank's work ultimately won her the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Actress. Swank had earned only $75 per day for her work on Boys Don't Cry, culminating in a total of $3,000. Her earnings were so low, that she had not even earned enough to qualify for health insurance.
Swank subsequently again won the Best Actress Oscar, and another Golden Globe, for playing a boxer in Clint Eastwood's 2004 film Million Dollar Baby, a role for which she underwent training in the ring and gained 19 pounds of muscle. Swank's success meant that she had joined the ranks of Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field, and Luise Rainer as the only actresses to have been nominated for Academy Awards twice and win both times. After winning her second Oscar, she said, "I don't know what I did in this life to deserve this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream."
Swank at the 2008 Academy Awards
In early 2006, Swank signed a three-year contract as spokesperson for Guerlain (a women's fragrance). She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 8, 2007. Hers was the 2,325th star presented.
In 2007, Swank starred in and executive produced Freedom Writers, a drama about a real-life teacher, Erin Gruwell, who inspired a California high school class. Many reviews of Swank's performance were positive, with one critic noting that she "brings credibility" to the role, and another stating that her performance reaches a "singular lack of artifice, stripping herself back to the bare essentials". Swank next starred in The Reaping, a horror film released on April 5, 2007, in which she played a debunker of religious phenomena. Swank convinced the producers to move the film's setting from New England to the Deep South, and the movie was being filmed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina struck. The same year, she also appeared in the romantic comedy P.S. I Love You alongside Gerard Butler.
Swank portrayed Amelia Earhart in the biopic Amelia, a film she also co-executive produced. Filming occurred in the summer of 2008 in a number of international locations. Swank is also attached to star in the Hollywood remake of Intimate Strangers. In addition, it was reported that Swank would play a lead role in, and produce, a film adaptation of the John Marks novel Fangland.
Personal life
Swank has said that she is "an actor, not a celebrity" and has described herself as a "homebody." Swank considers herself a spiritual person, though not a member of an organized religion. She has said that she is "athletically inclined" and that she "love sports."
Swank developed potential health problems, including elevated mercury levels in her body, through certain preparations for her roles, including weight gain and loss for Boys Don't Cry and The Black Dahlia. She has stated that she would "do what [she] need to make [the role] believable and to make it work" and that her "battle scars are a reminder that you're alive and human and that you bleed." In 2007, Swank noted that she "feel like in the last couple of years, I’ve really come into my own and a lot of that has come from figuring out who I really am and what I want in life."
Swank married actor Chad Lowe on September 28, 1997. The two met in 1992, on the set of Quiet Days in Hollywood, a direct-to-video film. Swank infamously forgot to thank Lowe during her acceptance speech after winning her first Oscar in 2000, and she spent nearly every public appearance afterward making up for it. Upon winning her second Oscar in 2005, Lowe was the first person she thanked. However, in January 2006, the couple separated. In subsequent interviews, Swank expressed hope that they could reconcile, but they announced in May 2006 that they were divorcing. In December 2006, Swank confirmed that she was dating John Campisi, her agent.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1991 Evening Shade Aimee #1 (1991–1992) TV series
Harry and the Hendersons Guest star TV series
Growing Pains Sasha Serotsky (1991–1992) TV series
1992 Camp Wilder Danielle TV series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Kimberly Hannah
1994 The Next Karate Kid Julie Pierce
Cries Unheard: The Donna Yaklich Story Patty TV movie
1996 Sometimes They Come Back... Again Michelle Porter
Terror in the Family Deena Martin TV movie
Kounterfeit Colleen
1997 Quiet Days in Hollywood Lolita
The Sleepwalker Killing Lauren Schall Lifetime TV movie
Leaving L.A. Tiffany Roebuck TV series
Dying to Belong Lisa Connors TV movie
Beverly Hills, 90210 Carly Reynolds (1997–1998) TV series
1998 Heartwood Sylvia Orsini
1999 Boys Don't Cry Brandon Teena Academy Award for Best Actress
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Chicago International Film Festival, Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress
Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Gijón International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Santa Fe Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actress
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
2000 The Gift Valerie Barksdale Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
Scary Movie Girl in car
The Audition Short subject
2001 The Affair of the Necklace Jeanne St. Rémy de Valois
2002 The Space Between Short subject
Insomnia Detective Ellie Burr Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actress
2003 11:14 Buzzy Also executive producer
The Core Major Rebecca Childs
2004 Million Dollar Baby Maggie Fitzgerald Academy Award for Best Actress
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Central Ohio Film Critics Association For Best Actress
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Sant Jordi Awards for Best Actress
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actress
Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance
Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Red Dust Sarah Barcant
Iron Jawed Angels Alice Paul TV movie
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2006 The Black Dahlia Madeleine Linscott
2007 Freedom Writers Erin Gruwell Also executive producer
The Reaping Professor Katherine Winter
P. S. I Love You Holly Kennedy Irish Film & Television Audience Award for Best International Actress
2008 Birds of America Laura
2009 Amelia Amelia Earhart Hollywood film festival Best Actress
2010 The Resident Dr. Juliet Dermer in post-production
Conviction Betty Anne Waters completed
2011 Falling Out of Fashion in development
Fangland Evangeline Harker in development
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