Hilary Swank life and biography

Hilary Ann Swank, born on July 30, 1974 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA 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).


While it certainly stung being unceremoniously fired from a hit show like “Beverly Hills 90210” (Fox, 1990-2000), relatively unknown actress Hilary Swank rebounded nicely by earning both Academy and Golden Globe awards for her gripping performance in “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999). One of those magical success stories that Hollywood loves to sire, Swank would quickly prove she was no one-trick-pony by ably starring in thrillers, period dramas and romantic comedies. She found her star-making niche, however, playing heroic, steely real-life women who succeeded against the odds. Her starring role as an aspiring boxer in Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) brought another round of Golden Globes and Oscars, and her reputation held strong with empowered performances as an inspirational inner-city teacher in “The Freedom Writers” (2007) and as groundbreaking aviatrix Amelia Earhart in “Amelia” (2009) – all roles informed in some way by Swank’s own rise from her humble, working class roots.

Born July 30, 1974, Swank was raised first in Spokane and then in a trailer park in Bellingham, WA, which the actress referenced frequently when expressing astonishment over her journey to earning her first Academy Award win years later. A self-described “outsider” in school, the athletic young Swank competed at a state-ranking level in both swimming and gymnastics but felt most comfortable when she was lost in a movie or novel. She learned to escape into characters on stage, and became active in school and regional repertory theater. Her mother was supportive of her daughter’s talent and dreams of becoming an actress, so when Swank’s parents separated in her teens, she and her ambitious daughter moved to Los Angeles. The pair had less than a hundred dollars when they arrived, but her mother found a job and the lanky and striking teen found acting work quickly with a guest starring role on the syndicated "Harry and the Hendersons” (syndicated, 1991-93). She was even more thrilled to reach “working actress” status with recurring characters on "Evening Shade" (CBS, 1990-94) and "Growing Pains" (ABC, 1985-1992). Her feature film debut was her appearance as Kristy Swanson's Valley Girl pal in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992), after which she shot the direct-to-video drama “Quiet Days in Hollywood” (lensed 1992; released 1997). It was on that set where she instantly fell in love with co-star Chad Lowe. The two would go on to have a somewhat fabled romance, as they both struggled to make a name for themselves.

Following another season on primetime as a regular on the short-lived "Camp Wilder" (ABC, 1992-93), Swank landed her first major break when she beat out thousands of actresses for the coveted lead role in "The Next Karate Kid" (1994), the final installment of the martial arts film series and the first to star a female as Kesuke Miyagi’s (Pat Morita) young protégé. Swank’s athletic background made for a good fit, but even her prowess and likable earnestness could not save the film in an era before female action heroes like Jennifer Garner and Lucy Liu resonated with viewers. Undaunted, Swank went right back out on auditions and added another handful of straight-to-video thrillers and Lifetime made-for-TV melodramas to her growing resume while patiently waiting for the perfect project to showcase her potential. When "Leaving L.A." (1997), a procedural drama set in a morgue in which Swank had a regular cast role, was cancelled after only six episodes, she was offered a cast role on the eighth season of Fox’s flagging young adult drama "Beverly Hills, 90210." Swank brought a much-needed spark of reality to the worn-out show with her role as a single mom/waitress and love interest of playboy Steve (Ian Ziering), but her character was written out of the show during her first season. While crushed at the time, her un-ceremonial departure was offset by her marriage to Lowe that year. And though she could never have dreamed it at the time, ultimately this dismissal set Swank on a new path, making her available for a more pivotal project that would change her life forever.

Just weeks later, Swank auditioned to portray Brandon Teena in "Boys Don't Cry" (1999), the fact-based story of a transgender young man from the Midwest whose murder made headlines. The beautifully realized independent film from director Kimberly Peirce presented numerous challenges for Swank, who cut off her long hair, worked with both an acting coach and a trainer, and created a male alter ego which she adopted full-time for close to a month prior to production. The onscreen results were astonishing, with Swank conveying the complex swagger and fragility of the character – making even the most close-minded, unsympathetic viewers stop and contemplate. Not surprisingly, she earned raves for giving one of the top film performances of the year and her Cinderella story of “from trailer park to red carpet” became the stuff of legend. A stunned and gracious recipient of the Golden Globe and Academy awards for Best Actress, Swank expressed gratitude and amazement for her long, twisting journey thus far and, not surprisingly, was promptly besieged with offers after the award season dust had settled.

For her follow-up, she receded into the supporting role of an abused wife in the ensemble of Sam Raimi's Southern Gothic, "The Gift" (2000), before returning to leading lady status with a rather stiff performance as a French noblewoman in the failed period drama, "The Affair of the Necklace" (2001). Amid murmurs that her Oscar breakout had perhaps been a case of beginner’s luck, Swank continued to choose her roles carefully and found success in a supporting role again; this time alongside Al Pacino and Robin Williams as a rookie cop put in charge of a murder investigation in the eerie Alaskan thriller, "Insomnia" (2002), directed by Christopher Nolan. A starring role as an astronaut in the sci-fi thriller "The Core" (2003), a contrived disaster flick about the impending destruction of the earth after its core mysteriously stops rotating, was a critical and financial flop. Swank rebounded with a strong performance as women’s suffrage leader Alice Paul in the widely praised HBO telepic, "Iron Jawed Angels" (2004), for which she earned a Golden Globe award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Mini-Series or Television Movie.

Sticking close to her proven success embodying physically and emotionally strong figures who succeed against the odds, Swank was well-cast in Clint Eastwood’s drama, “Million Dollar Baby” (2004). A relatively quiet bit of casting before its release, Swank came out swinging yet again, delivering another Golden Globe and Oscar-winning performance which would permanently put to rest the “beginner’s luck” whispers. As Maggie Fitzgerald, a tough and determined but undisciplined female boxer looking for someone to believe in her, Swank succeeded in both carving her body into a taught fighting machine and at the same time, wearing her character's emotions openly on her sleeve, delivering her most compelling performance since Brandon Teena. The film also marked Swank’s biggest commercial success, with over $200 million dollars earned at the box office and recognition among mainstream theatergoers. The film did receive its share of criticism from conservatives who called for a boycott over the right-to-die ending; an ending that managed to miraculously remain a secret for most moviegoers, despite political pundits having a field day over the subject matter.

The Hollywood A-lister went on to co-star in the disappointing film noir biopic, “The Black Dahlia” (2006), acting as the femme fatale who is a dead ringer for an actress whose murder is being obsessively investigated by a pair of corrupt, hard-edged cops (Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart). The same year, Swank and Lowe’s 13-year relationship ended and the actress was soon linked to her agent, John Campisi. Tabloids had a field day, as Lowe was portrayed as the wronged husband who had stood by his wife throughout her struggles and watched as her star had eclipsed his; Swank was seen as the ungrateful wife who after achieving her dreams, moved on to greener pastures. It was to be the one moment of scandal in Swank’s otherwise squeaky clean life, and whatever the truth of the matter, both stars spoke well of one another as they moved on separately with their lives.

Returning to her “heroic everywoman” persona, she went on to executive produce and star in the inspirational inner-city teacher tale “Freedom Writers” (2007), which was a moderate success but a little too formulaic to be memorably affecting. The same year, she curiously headlined the horror film “The Reaping” (2007) but experienced her biggest box office success of the year with the romance “PS, I Love You” (2007), starring as a grieving young widow whose deceased husband (Gerard Butler) has left her a list of tasks to do in order to help ease her out of grief and into a new life. The following year, Swank’s flair for empowered women led to her casting by director Mira Nair as the tragic aviatrix Amelia Earhart in the biopic, “Amelia” (2009), a role she followed up with another heroic leading role as “Betty Walters” (2010), a woman who successfully cleared her brother of a wrongful murder conviction by putting herself through law school.

CHRONOLOGY

* 1983 Began acting career as Mowgli in a school play of The Jungle Book
* 1990 Moved to Los Angeles at age 16
* 1991 Played recurring roles in ABC s Growing Pains and CBS Evening Shade
* 1991 Landed first job as guest star in episode of the syndicated series Harry and the Hendersons
* 1992 Had regular role in ABC s comedy series Camp Wilder
* 1992 Portrayed Kimberly, Kristy Swanson s Valley Girl pal, in the feature Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* 1994 Played lead in the feature The Next Karate Kid
* 1997 Joined the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 (FOX) as Carly Reynolds, a single mother who becomes a love interest for Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering)
* 1997 Was regular on the short-lived ABC series Leaving L.A.
* 1999 Offered a Oscar winning performance as Teena Brandon, a young woman undergoing a sexual identity crisis who opted to live as a man and was brutally raped and murdered when it was discovered she was born female in Boys Don t Cry
* 2000 Cast in the Sam Raimi directed, The Gift
* 2001 Appeared as a French noblewoman in The Affair of the Necklace
* 2002 Co-starred with Al Pacino in the American version of Insomnia
* 2003 Co-starred as Major Beck Childs in the sci-fi thriller The Core
* 2004 Co-starred with Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby as a woman determined to establish herself as a boxer
* 2004 Signed to be the exclusive celebrity model of the Calvin Klein intimate apparel
* 2004 Starred opposite Anjelica Huston and Frances O Connor in the HBO movie Iron Jawed Angels about the stuggle for womens right to vote; received Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie
* 2006 Cast as Josh Hartnett s love interest in The Black Dahlia, Brian De Palma s adaptation of James Ellroy s classic noir novel
* 2006 Signed on to be the spokeswoman for a new women s fragrance launched by Guerlain
* 2007 Co-starred as a widow whose life is turned upside down by letters left behind by her husband in P.S. I Love You
* 2007 Played Katherine Winter, a university professor in religion-themed horror film, The Reaping
* 2007 Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
* 2007 Starred as a inspiring teacher in the drama Freedom Writers
* 2009 Portrayed Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair s biopic, Amelia ; also co-executive produced
* Raised in Bellingham, WA
* Won the Best Junior Actress Award from the Bellingham Theatre Guild

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