Hilary Swank the biography

Hilary Swank, Actress, - Biography

Actress

Birth name Hilary Ann Swank
Born July 30, 1974, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, North America, Earth,

Height 5 foot 6

Hilary Ann Swank is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress. Her Hollywood film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) & then a major part in The Next Karate Kid (1994), where she played Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of the sensei Mr. Miyagi. She has become known for her two Oscar-winning performances: first as Brandon Teena, a transgender man in the movie Boys Don't Cry, & a struggling waitress-turned-boxer, Maggie Fitzgerald, in Million Dollar Baby.
Swank was born in Lincoln, Nebraska to Stephen Swank, an officer in the Air National Guard & later a traveling salesman, & Judy Clough. She has a brother, Dan. Many of her 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, where she moved to when she was six. Swank has also described her younger self as an "outsider" who felt that she belonged "only when [reading] a book or [seeing] a movie, & could get involved with a character", & was thus inspired to become an actress.

When she was nine years old, Swank made her first appearance on stage starring in The Jungle Book, & thereafter became heavily involved in her school & community theater programs, including those of the Bellingham Theatre Guild. She went to Sehome High School in Bellingham until she was sixteen. Swank also competed in the Junior Olympics & the Washington State championships in swimming; she ranked 5th in the state in all-around gymnastics (which would come in handy when starring in The Next Karate Kid (1994) years later). Swank's parents separated when she was thirteen, & her mother, supportive of her daughter's desire to act, moved the two of them to Los Angeles, California, 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 & her life during this time period & subsequently. In California, Swank enrolled in South Pasadena High School (although she later dropped out of high school) & started acting professionally. She also helped pay the rent with the money she earned appearing in television programs such as Evening Shade & Growing Pains.

Career
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 said 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." As it turned out, the firing was the best thing to happen to Swank, as it freed her to audition for the role of Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry. Swank dropped her body fat down to seven percent in preparation for the role. Many critics hailed hers as the best female performance of 1999; her co-star of the film, Chloë Sevigny, had her performance singled out for praise also, Swank & Sevigny were often ranked as the best two leads of 1999 in film. The performance ultimately won her the Golden Globe & Oscar for Best Actress. She subsequently won the Best Actress Oscar again for playing a boxer in 2004's Million Dollar Baby, a role for which she underwent training & gained 19 pounds of muscle. Swank's Oscar success meant that she had joined the ranks of Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field, & Luise Rainer as the only actresses to have been nominated twice & win both times (both times she won over fellow actress & nominee Annette Bening). She is also the third-youngest double Best Actress Oscar winner (after Luise Rainer & Jodie Foster.) After winning her second Best Actress 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 had earned only $75/day for her work on Boys Don't Cry, culminating in a total of $3,000. Her earnings were so low, that (according to an anecdote on 60 Minutes) she had not even earned enough to qualify for health insurance.

In early 2006, Swank signed a three-year contract as spokesperson for Guerlain (a women's fragrance). In 2007, Swank starred in & executive produced Freedom Writers, a drama about a real-life teacher 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 & another stating that her performance reaches a "singular lack of artifice, stripping herself back to the bare essentials". Later the same year, Swank starred The Reaping, a horror film scheduled for an April 5 release, in which she plays a debunker of religious phenomena. Swank convinced the producers to move the film's setting from New England to the Deep South, & the movie was filmed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina struck. Swank has also completed filming on the romantic comedy PS, I Love You.

Swank received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, January 8, 2007. Hers was the 2,325th star given.

Personal life
Swank has said that she is "an actor, not a celebrity" & has described herself as a "homebody". She considers herself a spiritual person, though not a member of an organized religion. She has said that she is "athletically inclined" & that she "love[s] sports". Swank developed potential health problems, including elevated mercury levels in her body, because of certain preparations for her roles, including weight gain & loss for Boys Don't Cry & The Black Dahlia. She has stated that she would "do what [she] need[s] to make [the role] believable & to make it work" & that her "battle scars are a reminder that you're alive & human & that you bleed". In 2007, Swank noted that she "feel[s] like in the last couple of years I’ve really come into my own & a lot of that has come from figuring out who I really am & 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, & 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 is dating John Campisi, her agent.

On January 15, 2005, after arriving at a New Zealand airport, she was fined NZ$230 by the Manukau District Court for not declaring an apple & orange she had in her purse when she landed. Swank appealed the fine, but it was upheld on March 30, 2005.

Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1990 Evening Shade Aimee #1 TV series (1991-1992)
ABC TGIF Danielle 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
1996 Sometimes They Come Back... Again Michelle Porter
Terror in the Family Deena Martin TV
Kounterfeit Colleen
1997 Quiet Days in Hollywood Lolita
The Sleepwalker Killing Lauren Schall TV
Leaving L.A. Tiffany Roebuck TV series
Dying to Belong Lisa Conners TV
1997-98 Beverly Hills 90210 Carly Reynolds TV series
1998 Heartwood Sylvia Orsini
1999 Boys Don't Cry Brandon Teena Won Academy Award for Best Actress
2000 The Gift Verlerie Barksdale
2000 The Affair of the Necklace Jeanne St. Remy de Velois
The Audition Short subject
2002 The Space Between Short subject
Insomnia Detective Ellie Burr
2003 11:14 Buzzy Also executive producer
The Core Major Rebecca Childs
2004 Million Dollar Baby Maggie Fitzgerald Won Academy Award for Best Actress
Red Dust Sarah Barcant
Iron Jawed Angels Alice Paul TV
2006 The Black Dahlia Madeline Linscott
2007 Freedom Writers Erin Gruwell Also executive producer
2007 The Reaping Katherine Winters
2007 P. S., I Love You Holly Kennedy Filming
2008 The Labyrinth Unknown Announced

Awards
Academy Awards
Winner: 2005 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Million Dollar Baby
Winner: 1999 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Boys Don't Cry
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Winner: 2005 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Million Dollar Baby
Nominee: 2005 - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Million Dollar Baby
Nominee: 2005 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries - Iron Jawed Angels
Nominee: 2000 - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Boys Don't Cry
Golden Globe Awards
Winner: 2005 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture: Drama - Million Dollar Baby
Nominee: 2005 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Made for TV Movie - Iron Jawed Angels
Winner: 2000 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture: Drama - Boys Don't Cry
Independent Spirit Awards
Winner: 2000 - Best Female Lead - Boys Don't Cry
MTV Movie Awards
2005: Nominee: MTV Movie Award - Best Female Performance - Million Dollar Baby
2000: Nominee: MTV Movie Award - Best Kiss - Boys Don't Cry
2000: Nominee: MTV Movie Award - Best Female Performance - Boys Don't Cry
BAFTA Awards
Nominee: 2001 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Boys Don't Cry

This site was written in May 2007

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