Why We Adore Hilary Swank
Hey, do you want to call Hilary Swank?
She's at an event to launch a campaign for women's empowerment, and I hear she has a few minutes.
Even with half the cool she has on screen, I'd want to chat with Swank. At 35, she's got the Cinderella thing going, that knockout, iconic body, two Oscar statuettes, and the kind of determination that could strip paint off the wall. And it all comes wrapped in a for-real humility that's hard to find these days, especially in Hollywood.
I mean, who else could stand there and accept an Academy Award with, "I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream," and not sound like she was milking a sound bite? (I melted.)
Who else controls her weight like a water faucet? As in drilling herself down to 7 percent body fat for "Boys Don't Cry" (Oscar No. 1). Seven percent??? Healthy women have at least three times that much. And then packing on 19 pounds of muscle to box her way through Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby."
And who else will ever play a transgendered boy so heartbreakingly well?
... Or rock a neckline that nosedives so low, it could cause the bends?
Okay, we're calling. She's got-let's see-9 minutes. Here, listen:
On her mom (you'll remember Judy Swank plucked 16-year-old Hilary from their trailer and moved out to LA, where they lived in a car at first): "She's great, thank you for asking," -Swank stops to explain that her mother is the reason she's supporting the Make Your Mark contest, which will award three women $5,000 grants to pursue their dreams. (It looks pretty spiffy-Annie Leibovitz will be photographing the winners. Check out the whole campaign.) "My mom was the one who told me that I could do anything I wanted as long as I worked hard enough. She believed in me. And it was the gift of a lifetime. So any time I can remind girls, women, of the same thing, I try."
On whether anything still holds her back: "I'll be reading a script and I'll love it, and they'll say, 'Well, we're casting the male first and if we get so-and-so, there's not going to be any money left for the girl. But if we hire this other actor, then maybe we can come to you.' So you're a second-class citizen. And no matter how successful you are in this business, it's still that way."
On how (naturally) she's not taking it, and calling the shots by making her own films: "Yeah! Last Tuesday we started filming 'Something Borrowed' [Swank is producing and starring in the film, along with Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin] and it's been so," she takes a long, incredulous breath, "great. It's inspiring to make an opportunity not just for one woman, but for two. These are two great roles."
On how she stays in shape: "I've been an athlete all my life, so I work out more for my well being than any aesthetic. And I mix it up, because I like to have fun with it. Always a staple for me is doing Power Pilates. I like to play tennis, hike, swim, anything outdoors. And I work with a trainer because it's important for women, once you hit a certain age, to lift weights."
On staying confident about her looks in such a cruelly critical industry: "We all have our insecurities. I wouldn't be human if I didn't. But I always try to get past this projected idea of what we're supposed to look like, or who we're supposed to be. And I encourage all women to try not to worry about what other people think. It's really hard when you're living in a society where you're surrounded by celebrities, models, touch ups, and these images are constantly billboarded and on TV. But we have to find that real place within ourselves."
On what character in the whole universe she'd play if she could: "You know, I don't have an answer for that, because I'm not sitting around thinking, 'Oh, if I play this person I can retire.'"
Swank has to go, but I can almost her mind whirring to end on a positive note. "The way I would put it," she says, "is that I want to continue to find challenges."
I'm going to try to take a little of that with me. What about you?
Want to read more about Hilary Swank?
What her nutritionist has to say
[Photo Credit: Getty Images/Michael Buckner]
