Hilary Swank

**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). She then had her breakthrough for starring as Julie Pierce in *The Next Karate Kid* (1994), the fourth installment of *The Karate Kid* franchise, and as Carly Reynolds on the eighth season of *Beverly Hills, 90210* (1997–1998). She portrays Eileen Fitzgerald in ***Alaska Daily***.

## Early life

Swank was born on July 30, 1974, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her mother, Judy Kay (*née* Clough), was a secretary and dancer, and her father, Stephen Michael Swank, was a Chief Master Sergeant in the Oregon Air National Guard and later a traveling salesman. 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 in 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 also competed in the Junior Olympics and the Washington state championships in swimming, and she 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 she 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 Swank's 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 South Pasadena High 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 came to international recognition for her performances as Brandon Teena, a transgender man, in Kimberly Peirce's *Boys Don't Cry* (1999), and as Maggie Fitzgerald, an aspiring boxer, in Clint Eastwood's *Million Dollar Baby* (2004). Both of her performances earned her critical acclaim, and she earned numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Movie Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She was named by *Time* magazine 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), all of which she also starred in. Her other notable films include the television film *Iron Jawed Angels* (2004), and the feature films *Freedom Writers* (2007), *Logan Lucky* (2017), *The Hunt* (2020), and *Fatale* (2020).

## Trivia

* On December 11, 2022, Hilary was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series for the 2023 Golden Globes.
* Hilary was pregnant with twins through the course of filming for the first season.

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