Hilary Swank

Today, television audiences are used to seeing Hilary Swank resplendently gowned, gliding over a red carpet at glittering Hollywood soirees, but her early years were anything but glamorous. She spent much of her childhood living in a trailer park near Lake Samish in Bellingham, Washington. Hilary Swank began acting professionally in her teens, appearing in television shows such as Growing Pains. Movie audiences got their first look at Hilary Swank in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Next Karate Kid. She was dropped from her regular role on Beverly Hills 90210, a potential career disaster that proved to be a blessing in disguise. She was soon cast as the tragic Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry. Her devastating performance brought her the Oscar for Best Actress. The role had required a challenging physical transformation, but that was nothing compared to the grueling training regimen she undertook to convincingly portray a professional boxer onscreen. She received a second Best Actress Oscar for her physically powerful and emotionally wrenching portrayal of the doomed Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby. In this podcast, recorded at the 2007 International Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C., she discusses her grueling physical preparation for these demanding roles. Nothing worthwhile can be accomplished without complete dedication, she affirmed, and no award or other form of public recognition can take the place of the satisfaction that comes from continually meeting fresh challenges.