Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series Camp Wilder and made her film debut with a minor role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). Swank came to international recognition for her performances as Brandon Teena in Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry (1999) and as Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (2004). Both performances earned her widespread critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards for Best Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005.
Swank later ventured into producing with the films Amelia (2009), Conviction (2010), You're Not You (2014), and What They Had (2018), in all of which she also starred. Other notable appearances include as Carly Reynolds on the eighth season of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1997–98), the television film Iron Jawed Angels (2004), and the feature films The Next Karate Kid (1994), The Black Dahlia (2006), Freedom Writers (2007), The Resident (2011), The Homesman (2014), Logan Lucky (2017), The Hunt (2020), and Fatale (2020). In 2022, she starred in the television drama series Alaska Daily.
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Early life
Hilary Ann Swank was born on July 30, 1974, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Judy Kay (née Clough) and Stephen Swank. Many of Swank's family members are from Ringgold County, Iowa. Her maternal grandmother, Frances Martha Clough (née Domínguez), was born in El Centro, California, and was of Mexican descent. Swank's paternal grandmother was born in England; her other ancestry includes Dutch, German, Ulster-Scots, Scottish, Swiss, and Welsh. The surname "Swank", originally "Schwenk", is of German origin.
After living in Spokane, Washington, Swank's family moved into a home near Lake Samish, near Bellingham, Washington, when Swank was six. She attended Happy Valley Elementary School, Fairhaven Middle School, then Sehome High School in Bellingham until she was 16. She competed in the Junior Olympics, the Washington state championships in swimming, and ranked fifth in the state in all-around gymnastics. Swank made her first appearance on stage when she was nine years old, starring in The Jungle Book.
When Swank was 15, her parents separated, and her mother, supportive of her daughter's desire to act, moved with her to Los Angeles, where they lived in their car until her mother saved enough money to rent an apartment. Swank has called her mother the inspiration for her acting career and her life. In California, Swank enrolled in South Pasadena High School, later dropping out. She described her time at that school: "I felt like such an outsider. I didn't feel like I fit in. I didn't belong in any way. I didn't even feel like the teachers wanted me there. I just felt like I wasn't seen or understood." She explained that she became an actor because she felt like an outsider, "As a kid I felt that I belonged only when I read a book or saw a movie, and could get involved with a character. It was natural that I became an actor because I longed so much to be those other people, or at least to play them."
Career
Swank made her film debut in the 1992 comedy horror film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing a supporting role, after which she acted in the direct-to-video drama Quiet Days in Hollywood, where she co-starred with Chad Lowe, to whom she was married from 1997 to 2007.
Her first leading film role was in the fourth installment of the Karate Kid series, The Next Karate Kid (1994) as Julie Pierce. The role used her gymnastics background and paired her with Pat Morita. In 1994, she also starred in the drama, Cries Unheard: The Donna Yaklich Story, as the abused stepdaughter who was protected by Donna (Jaclyn Smith). In 1995, she appeared with British actor Bruce Payne in Kounterfeit. In 1996, she starred in a TV movie, family drama Terror in the Family, as a troubled teenager. In September 1997, Swank played single mother Carly Reynolds in Beverly Hills, 90210 and 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."
Being cut from Beverly Hills, 90210 freed her to audition for the role of Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry. To prepare for the role, Swank lived as a man for a month and reduced her body fat to 7%. She earned only $75 per day for her work on the film, culminating in a total of $3,000. Her earnings were so low that she had not even earned enough to qualify for health insurance. Upon release, many critics lauded her performance, with Premiere listing it as one of the "100 Greatest Performances of All Time". James Berardinelli wrote at the time that Swank "gives the performance of her career". Her work earned her several accolades, including the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actress. In an interview with Variety in 2020, Swank said that she felt a trans actor should have played the role, and had she been offered it today, she would have refused it, stating "Twenty-one years later, not only are trans people having their lives and living, thankfully, although we still have a long way to go in their safety and their inclusivity, but we now have a bunch of trans actors who would obviously be a lot more right for the role and have the opportunity to actually audition for the role."
Swank again won the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for playing a female boxer in Clint Eastwood's 2004 film Million Dollar Baby, a role for which she underwent extensive training in the ring and weight room, aided by professional trainer Grant L. Roberts, gaining 19 pounds of muscle. With her second Oscar, she had joined the ranks of Vivien Leigh, Sally Field, and Luise Rainer as the only actresses to have been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress twice and won 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."
Other ventures
Clothing line
On October 18, 2016, Swank announced that she was launching a luxury clothing line, Mission Statement. The collection includes jackets, tops, dresses, bottoms, sports bras and sweaters that are made of eco-friendly technical fabrics, priced from $125 to $1,150. Swank aimed to create clothing that is eco-conscious and devoid of large logos, saying in an interview with DuJour that "we believe in promoting the women wearing the clothes and not the brand itself, which is why there is no external branding." The brand works with suppliers that follow strict environmental policies and sustainable production practices.
Philanthropy
In July 2007, hair product brand Pantene, in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund, signed Swank to represent Pantene Beautiful Lengths charity campaign in 2008. The campaign encouraged people to donate their healthy hair to create free wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Swank participated in Pantene's Million Inch Chain program by cutting her hair and donating it.
Swank hosted and co-produced a two-hour television special, Fox's Cause for Paws: An All-Star Dog Special, which aired on Thanksgiving night in 2014. The show celebrated the human-dog connection and rescue dogs. In 2014, The Petco Foundation honored Swank for her animal advocacy work and, in 2015, she received the Compassion Award by ASPCA. Also in 2015, Swank founded a nonprofit organization, the Hilaroo Foundation, which aims to bring at-risk teenagers and rescue dogs together in the hope that the two can heal each other. She was inspired to create the foundation after rescuing a dog called Karoo in South Africa.
On February 24, 2024, Hilary Swank supported Ukraine by appearing in a video with 29 other world stars to support Ukraine against Russia.
In May of that year, she joined UNITED24 ambassadors and will raise funds for Ukraine.
Personal life
In a January 2009 episode of The Office, "Prince Family Paper", the subplot of the episode is the office coworkers debating whether or not Hilary Swank is "hot". Swank referred to such discussions emphasizing the looks of women in Hollywood as doing a "disservice".
In October 2011, Swank attracted controversy for attending an event in Chechnya's capital Grozny on the 35th birthday of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov on October 5. After wishing him "Happy birthday, Mr. President", she reportedly claimed knowledge about Kadyrov saying, "I read. I do my research." Following criticism from human rights groups, that reported having informed her about the human rights abuses in Chechnya prior to the event and asked her to reconsider her participation, Swank said she was unaware that Kadyrov had been accused of human rights violations and that she "deeply regrets" taking part in the lavish concert. She donated her personal appearance fees "to various charitable organizations".
In a 2020 interview with Health, Swank revealed that she took a three-year break from acting beginning in 2014 to help her father recover from a lung transplant.
She has been good friends with actress Mariska Hargitay since the two met on the set of television series ER. Hargitay was a maid of honor at Swank's wedding to Philip Schneider in 2018.
Relationships
While filming Quiet Days in Hollywood, Swank met actor Chad Lowe. They married on September 28, 1997. They announced their intention to divorce on January 9, 2006, which was finalized on November 1, 2007. Swank alleged that Lowe's substance abuse issues were a reason for the split.
In 2007 Swank began dating her agent John Campisi, a relationship they ended in May 2012.
On March 22, 2016, Swank announced her engagement to Rubén Torres, a financial advisor with UBS and former professional tennis player. The two had been dating since May 2015. In June 2016, Swank's representative confirmed that Torres and she had ended their engagement.
On August 18, 2018, she married entrepreneur Philip Schneider after two years of dating. On October 5, 2022, she announced that she and her husband were expecting twins. On April 10, 2023, she announced that she had welcomed her twins, a son and a daughter.