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Hilary Swank Talks ‘You’re Not You’ Movie, Reveals What It Was Like Working with Emmy Rossum
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We were lucky enough to talk to Hilary at the premiere of You’re Not You in Los Angeles last night. Hilary talked to us all about the movie and told us what is was like working with Emmy. Find out what Hilary had to say in the interview below!
Being a two-time Oscar winner, Hilary must get a ton of scripts thrown her way. So, what was it about this film that stood out to her? Hilary told us, “The love story element. To me it’s an unromantic love story between two women.”
The friendship between Kate (Hilary) and Bec (Emmy) is really beautiful in this film. We wanted to know, what was it like for Hilary to work with Emmy? Hilary revealed, “Wonderful. I have such respect and admiration for her. She has such a work ethic, she’s so present and she’s not afraid to look silly.”
This film wasn’t the first movie that Hilary’s produced, she’s been a producer on many movies, like 2011’s Something Borrowed. So, what’s it like to be a producer on a film, especially this film? Hilary revealed, “I think that it’s always a great honor to be able to be a part of something from the very beginning to the genesis of where we are now. Because, it’s the little movie that could. I mean, you were a part of getting the rights to the book and the adaptation and hiring the writer for the adaption, hiring your crew, hiring your cast. And, getting the financing, you know, it’s everything. And, it just gives you so much more respect for the people who have done that for all of the other movies that I did.”
How did it feel for Hilary to be at the premiere, now that the movie is finished? She told us, “So exciting! I really believe in this movie. Like I said it’s a passion project of mine, it’s the little movie that could.”
You’re Not You is available in theaters and On Demand on Oct. 10. Check out a trailer for the film HERE!
Plus, you can enter our You’re Not You giveaway HERE!
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank came from humble beginnings.
As a teenager, she and her single mother were homeless. By the age of
30, she had won two Academy Awards for Best Actress. But after winning
her second Oscar, Swank’s career stalled out. Today, the two-time
Oscar-winner is stuck in direct-to-video horror movies and ensemble
romantic comedies named after minor holidays.
What the hell happened?
Hilary Swank’s eighth grade yearbook photo
When Swank was fifteen years old, her
parents separated. She and her mother moved from Bellingham,
Washington to LA to support Swank’s dreams of being an actress. At
first, they didn’t have enough money to rent an apartment. So they
lived out of their car while Swank’s mother saved up. Swank attended
South Pasadena High School but ended up dropping out. According to
Swank, she didn’t feel like she belonged there:
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.
Swank described trying to get a foot in the door in Hollywood:
I remember watching my mom. She had a roll of quarters, and she would just call agents, “My daughter is really great. She’s really talented. You should meet her.” They’d say, “Great. Well, send a résumé in and a picture.” I, of course, didn’t have either of those.
Hilary Swank – Harry and the Hendersons – 1991
Hilary Swank – Growing Pains – 1991-1992
Swank also made appearances in two episodes each of Evening Shade and Growing Pains (pictured above). On Growing Pains, she worked alongside Leonadro DiCaprio. All that talent and Kirk Cameron too. Swank recalled her first big break in TV:
I got a couple of lines on a sitcom, Growing Pains. I think the first time I was onGrowing Pains, I pulled a bunny out of a hat and said, “Ta-dah,” and that got me my SAG card. Then I was on Evening Shade, and they just kept bringing me back.
Hilary Swank – Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 1992
Swank’s first film role was in the 1992 version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The movie starred Kristy Swanson as a cheerleader turned slayer of vampires and featured Beverly Hills 90210 heart-throb,
Luke Perry, in a supporting role. Donald Sutherland played Swanson’s
mentor. Rutger Hauer and Paul Reubens played vampires. Swank played
one of the student’s at Buffy’s California high school
Expectations for the Buffy movie were high.
The movie was released at the height of Perry’s popularity. His
screaming fans were always camped out on the set. The movie had a lot
of good buzz based on Joss Whedon’s clever script. But the script was
heavily altered to lighten the tone of the movie. Sutherland insisted
on changing just about all of his dialogue. Whedon was so frustrated,
he walked off the set one day and never returned. Eventually, he took
the material to TV where he could give it his own spin.
Today, Swank is known for her dramatic roles. But she points out that she wasn’t originally taken so seriously:
My first movie was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In fact, I started my career in comedy. I was always auditioning for dramatic roles as well, but I was constantly told that I was too funny, I was too “half-hour,” I wasn’t dramatic enough, which I think is really interesting.
Critics complained that despite clever
moments, the movie missed the mark. Perry’s fan-base didn’t turn out to
see him at the cineplexes. Buffy opened in fifth place at the box office behind A League of Their Own which had been in theaters for five weeks.
Hilary Swank – Camp Wilder – 1992-1993
Mary Page Keller starred as an older sibling who takes care of her younger brother (Jerry O’Connell) and sister (Meghann Halderman) after the death of their parents while also raising her own daughter. Her loose parenting style makes their house a hangout for her siblings’ teenage friends played by Swank and Jay Mohr. Jared Leto was a popular guest star as well.
Camp Wilder was cancelled after one season due to low ratings. Although 20 episodes were made, only 19 were aired in the US. The show was actually a hit in Germany.
On this day in 1998, Hilary Swank makes her final appearance in a multi-episode arc on the Fox prime-time soap opera Beverly Hills, 90210. Barely two years later, in a somewhat unexpected turn of events, Swank would be standing onstage at the Academy Awards to accept the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance inBoys Don’t Cry.
Born in Nebraska on July 30, 1974, Swank grew up mostly in Bellingham, Washington. She performed in school plays and was a talented athlete, swimming in the Junior Olympics and competing in gymnastics. After her parents separated, Swank’s mother Judy moved with her daughter to Los Angeles to support Hilary’s desire to become an actress. After arriving in L.A., mother and daughter lived out of their car for a couple of weeks until Judy was able to save enough money to rent an apartment.
In 1992, Swank made her film debut in a bit role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Two years later, she landed the title role in The Next Karate Kid (1994), the fourth and final movie in the Karate Kid series. Playing a troubled teenager who learns karate from Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), Swank was a replacement for Ralph Macchio (then 32 years old), who had starred in the first three films. The film was received poorly by critics and earned only $8.9 million at the box office–by far the least money of all the Karate Kid movies.
Swank joined the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 for the beginning of the show’s eighth season, when its popularity was waning (it was canceled in early 2000 after ten seasons). The show’s central characters had graduated from college and were embarking on their first jobs and other challenges of adulthood. Swank played Carly Reynolds, a single mom who gets involved with Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and works as a waitress at the gang’s hangout, the Peach Pit. After 16 episodes, Swank was dropped from the series.
In a 2005 interview with Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes (shortly before she took home her second Best Actress Oscar, for her role as a female boxer in Clint Eastwood’sMillion Dollar Baby) Swank was candid about how the firing affected her confidence: “I thought if I’m not a good enough actor for 90210, then maybe I should [pack it in]….I was devastated.”
It turned out to be a stroke of luck, however, as the out-of- work Swank was able to audition for and win the lead role in the independent film Boys Don’t Cry (1999), directed by Kimberly Peirce and based on the tragic real-life story of Brandon Teena, a young transgender man in small-town Nebraska who was raped and murdered by his male acquaintances after they discovered his secret. Swank was paid just $75 per week–a total of $3,000–for Boys Don’t Cry, but it would make her career. She won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress and was catapulted onto the Hollywood A-list, leaving the days of prime-time soap operas well behind her.
GETTY IMAGES
Hilary Swank and Susan Sarandon have taken voice roles in the 3D animated comedy “Spark,” joining Jessica Biel and Jace Norman.
“Spark” is directed by Aaron Woodley for ToonBox Entertainment, Redrover Co. and Gulfstream Pictures, which teamed on “The Nut Job.”
It’s the first time Swank has been cast for her voice in an animated feature. She’ll voice a noble queen, and Sarandon will voice a nanny robot.
The story follows a teenage monkey, Spark; a battle-ready fox; and a tech-savvy warthog as they embark on a mission to take back their planet from a power-mad general. The film is currently in production with plans for a 2016 release.
The film is produced by ToonBox and Redrover, in association with Gulfstream Pictures, which is handling U.S. sales. Executive producers are Hong Kim, Jay HJ Ahn and Daniel Woo and Gulfstream Pictures’ Mike Karz and Bill Bindley.
Redrover is fully financing.
Hilary Swank is heartbreakingly good in The Homesman, where she plays Mary Bee Cuddy, a plain but forthright frontierswoman imbued with an almost shocking amount of decency. Certainly, she’s got more moral fortitude than just about anyone else in her small Nebraska town: When three local men write off their troubled wives as hysterics (all too easy to do in the mid-1800s) and determine that they should be taken far away to a refuge in Iowa, Mary Bee is the only one brave and compassionate enough to lead those women on their long trek. Soon she meets an irascible criminal (played by Tommy Lee Jones, who also directed the film) who can help her navigate the trail, but he, too, may be helped by Mary Bee’s moral fortitude. Swank recently sat down with Vulture to discuss the movie’s powerful themes of decency and feminism.
Mary Bee is so immediately relatable, but did you picture yourself in this role as soon as you started reading it?
Sometimes I read great scripts that have great characters but I don’t see myself in them, and I just can’t be a part of them if that’s the case. I pretty much saw me in her right away. I really loved her, for all the reasons that you said, and she just does the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing. She has morals, she has values, she has manners ... and I think those are really a lot of things missing in the world today. I often hear the wordearnest like it’s a bad thing. When did that become a bad thing?
Sometimes I read great scripts that have great characters but I don’t see myself in them, and I just can’t be a part of them if that’s the case. I pretty much saw me in her right away. I really loved her, for all the reasons that you said, and she just does the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing. She has morals, she has values, she has manners ... and I think those are really a lot of things missing in the world today. I often hear the wordearnest like it’s a bad thing. When did that become a bad thing?
It’s heartbreaking, though, because Mary Bee has got so much generosity to go around, and the other characters don’t give it back to her in return.
I think it’s part of what makes her so vulnerable and feel so alone, but it still won’t keep her from doing the right thing. I always said that Mary Bee goes where angels fear to tread. It’s very rare to be that selfless, but at least it’s something to aspire to.
I think it’s part of what makes her so vulnerable and feel so alone, but it still won’t keep her from doing the right thing. I always said that Mary Bee goes where angels fear to tread. It’s very rare to be that selfless, but at least it’s something to aspire to.
Why don’t people see her like she should be seen?
I think the men don’t see her the way she wants to be seen because, in some way, she intimidates them. She’s perhaps more manly than they are. I don’t use that word to mean she’s like a man, but she’s picking up the responsibility that some of these men should be doing, so if anything, it might make them feel a little bit guilty about their lack of attributes in their own character. She’s self-sufficient, she’s independent, she’s really a modern-day woman in a lot of ways, and a lot of people can’t even handle that in 2014, let alone the mid-1800s.
I think the men don’t see her the way she wants to be seen because, in some way, she intimidates them. She’s perhaps more manly than they are. I don’t use that word to mean she’s like a man, but she’s picking up the responsibility that some of these men should be doing, so if anything, it might make them feel a little bit guilty about their lack of attributes in their own character. She’s self-sufficient, she’s independent, she’s really a modern-day woman in a lot of ways, and a lot of people can’t even handle that in 2014, let alone the mid-1800s.
Though she might appear masculine in certain ways, Mary Bee will also go to great lengths to assert herself as a feminine presence, too, making meals and setting up her homestead just so for a potential suitor.
You know what’s interesting? What we consider “masculine” and what we consider “feminine” — and I was sitting here talking about it, too. If you can blur those lines a little bit more and see that it’s not just the woman’s place in a home, and break down those stereotypes that only men are supposed to be out making the money or doing the hard labor, the more it lends us to helping each other through this walk called life. There is no right [or] wrong way to live as long as you’re doing the best you can and, I think, trying to live with some manners and values.
You know what’s interesting? What we consider “masculine” and what we consider “feminine” — and I was sitting here talking about it, too. If you can blur those lines a little bit more and see that it’s not just the woman’s place in a home, and break down those stereotypes that only men are supposed to be out making the money or doing the hard labor, the more it lends us to helping each other through this walk called life. There is no right [or] wrong way to live as long as you’re doing the best you can and, I think, trying to live with some manners and values.
Those notions of traditional masculinity and femininity are so entrenched in our culture. Take the catcalling video—
I didn’t see it.
I didn’t see it.
It’s this fascinating video where a woman walks through New York City for ten hours, and all the times she’s catcalled are captured via a hidden camera.
Oh, that’s interesting. Women are objectified like that all the time, every single day. Unless you see it for yourself — like that video obviously depicts — you don’t really understand what it’s like to be in that place of being objectified every single day, and trivialized. To me, this movie deals with that in a big way. It’s a feminist movie in a lot of ways, and I think it deals with how women carry themselves or hide from themselves because they want to be seen for more than just their looks. I know that when I became a teenager and all of a sudden was looked at differently, it was very uncomfortable. I immediately put on overalls and started wearing wool socks because I didn’t want to be looked at like that.
Oh, that’s interesting. Women are objectified like that all the time, every single day. Unless you see it for yourself — like that video obviously depicts — you don’t really understand what it’s like to be in that place of being objectified every single day, and trivialized. To me, this movie deals with that in a big way. It’s a feminist movie in a lot of ways, and I think it deals with how women carry themselves or hide from themselves because they want to be seen for more than just their looks. I know that when I became a teenager and all of a sudden was looked at differently, it was very uncomfortable. I immediately put on overalls and started wearing wool socks because I didn’t want to be looked at like that.
Which is tricky, because you’re in a profession where so much of it is based on your looks.
I do think that happens to men in this business, too, but in general, when young girls are looking at billboards of already-beautiful models that are being touched up, it’s completely unattainable to look like that. The idea that you have to look a certain way to attain love or to be successful in the world, those are the stereotypes we need to break down. It's interesting that being seen for who we are changes us, or allows us to be us.
I do think that happens to men in this business, too, but in general, when young girls are looking at billboards of already-beautiful models that are being touched up, it’s completely unattainable to look like that. The idea that you have to look a certain way to attain love or to be successful in the world, those are the stereotypes we need to break down. It's interesting that being seen for who we are changes us, or allows us to be us.
The ability to be seen is very important. Has walking in other people's shoes as an actress given you that empathy for other people?
Absolutely. First of all, I think that coming from a very humble background has made me an empathizer in general. I sometimes have a hard time sleeping at night with all that's happening in the world. Especially before I go to bed, it just pulls at my heartstrings, and I wish that there was more of me to go around, to be able to do more. I don't only get to walk through these characters’ shoes, I get to see the world through their eyes. It totally broadens my blinders; it opens up many new ways of looking at things. To me, that's what life's about: We can celebrate people's differences, and once we blow past the unknowns, we're so much the same.
Absolutely. First of all, I think that coming from a very humble background has made me an empathizer in general. I sometimes have a hard time sleeping at night with all that's happening in the world. Especially before I go to bed, it just pulls at my heartstrings, and I wish that there was more of me to go around, to be able to do more. I don't only get to walk through these characters’ shoes, I get to see the world through their eyes. It totally broadens my blinders; it opens up many new ways of looking at things. To me, that's what life's about: We can celebrate people's differences, and once we blow past the unknowns, we're so much the same.
That's what was so compelling about Boys Don’t Cry. You don’t see characters like Brandon Teena very often in the movies, but the big themes of that movie were so universal.
Absolutely, and it's fascinating to me that people will say, "You know, because you're straight, I looked at this movie differently. It made me see that it transcended gender, that it was about a person." It made it not a gay story or a lesbian story in their eyes, which is crazy to me.
Absolutely, and it's fascinating to me that people will say, "You know, because you're straight, I looked at this movie differently. It made me see that it transcended gender, that it was about a person." It made it not a gay story or a lesbian story in their eyes, which is crazy to me.
In real life, it can be hard for people to relate to someone whom they perceive to be different. When you watch a movie, though, you can’t help but begin to empathize.
It is astounding. I think we’ve all felt like an outsider at some point in our lives, and for me, especially as a child, I felt the pressure of classism. I would be embarrassed for living in a trailer park, and I would watch movies and see characters that were feeling things that I felt I was experiencing. I felt understood through those movies, and they became my friends, in a way, and I think the power of movies is astounding in that way.
It is astounding. I think we’ve all felt like an outsider at some point in our lives, and for me, especially as a child, I felt the pressure of classism. I would be embarrassed for living in a trailer park, and I would watch movies and see characters that were feeling things that I felt I was experiencing. I felt understood through those movies, and they became my friends, in a way, and I think the power of movies is astounding in that way.
What is it like to be directed by the actor you’re sharing the scene with? You did it in The Homesman with Tommy Lee Jones, and Million Dollar Baby with Clint Eastwood.
The beauty of it is that there is a shorthand. They know what it’s like to be an actor. In the cases of Clint and Tommy Lee, they’ve been doing it for so long that when they’re sitting with you, you know they’re right here. They’re not across the room, watching you on a monitor — they are with you, they are in it. Sometimes other directors overdirect and give me too many words, and I’m like, “I got it. I got it in the first two words.”
The beauty of it is that there is a shorthand. They know what it’s like to be an actor. In the cases of Clint and Tommy Lee, they’ve been doing it for so long that when they’re sitting with you, you know they’re right here. They’re not across the room, watching you on a monitor — they are with you, they are in it. Sometimes other directors overdirect and give me too many words, and I’m like, “I got it. I got it in the first two words.”
All of Tommy Lee’s words seem to be chosen wisely.
Very. He has a brilliant brain, and he certainly doesn’t suffer fools and wear his heart on his sleeve — and why should he? He doesn’t have to do that to please people. If he doesn’t want to connect, he doesn’t want to connect, but in the end, I think that this movie is just a shining example of defying stereotypes. People see Tommy Lee as this intense man, but in the end, he made a feminist movie, a beautiful love-letter to women. I think it’s beautiful that he made that.
Very. He has a brilliant brain, and he certainly doesn’t suffer fools and wear his heart on his sleeve — and why should he? He doesn’t have to do that to please people. If he doesn’t want to connect, he doesn’t want to connect, but in the end, I think that this movie is just a shining example of defying stereotypes. People see Tommy Lee as this intense man, but in the end, he made a feminist movie, a beautiful love-letter to women. I think it’s beautiful that he made that.
Academy Awards
1999: Best Actress
Other Nominees
- Annette Bening as Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty
- Janet McTeer as Mary Jo Walker in Tumbleweeds
- Julianne Moore as Sarah Miles in The End of the Affair
- Meryl Streep as Roberta Guaspari in Music of the Heart
By besting Annette Bening, Hilary Swank prevented American Beauty from taking home the triple crown of best picture, best actor, and best actress. The young Swank was a relative newcomer to movies whose only major screen appearance prior to Boys Don’t Cry was as Pat Morita’s new student in the sequel film The Next Karate Kid(1994). Boys Don’t Cry, though far from a box-office smash, received praise and awards from critics and film festivals around the world in 1999, particularly for the performances of Swank and costar Chloë Sevigny (AAN). This modest true-life drama tells the fascinating yet tragic story of Teena Brandon, a young Nebraska woman whose gender identity crisis led to her brutal rape and murder, as well as the slaying of two other innocents, in 1993. Swank joined Linda Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously, 1983) in the small group of actors who have earned Oscars for gender-bending performances.
Hilary Swank, in full HILARY ANN SWANK (b. July 30, 1974, Lincoln, Neb., U.S.)
2004: Best Actress
Other Nominees
- Annette Bening as Julia Lambert in Being Julia
- Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria in Maria Full of Grace
- Imelda Staunton as Vera in Vera Drake
- Kate Winslet as Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
![Million Dollar Baby [Credit: © 2004 Warner Brothers, Inc.]](http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/33/176933-004-D3489C00.jpg)
Swank was a bit of a surprise winner of the best actress Oscar for her performance in Boys Don’t Cry (1999), but she was a bit of a sure thing to win for her turn as a strong-willed boxer in Million Dollar Baby (AA). As Maggie Fitzgerald, a waitress who decides to become a professional boxer, Swank imbued the character with warmth and courage and conveyed the intense vulnerability of a young woman literally fighting to make something of her life. A former competitive swimmer and gymnast, Swank got ready for the physical aspects of the role by gaining 19 pounds of muscle, the result of a diet and training regime that included over four hours a day in the gym.
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