Hilary Swank

Swank married actor Chad Lowe in 1997 and divorced him in 2007 after a decade long marriage.

She was in a relationship with her agent John Campisi for some years, but the couple has since broken up.

Hilary Swank was born as the second child of Stephen Michael Swank and Judy Kay in Nebraska. Her father was an officer in the Air National Guard while her mother was a secretary cum dancer. She is of mixed ancestry.

She attended Happy Valley elementary school and later went to Sehome High School. An athletic girl, she took part in various swimming and gymnastics competitions, and was also active in the school and regional theater.

Her parents separated when she was 16 and she moved to Los Angeles with her mother. There she enrolled in the South Pasadena High School but soon dropped out.

She began her acting career in 1991 with a guest appearance in the television series ‘Harry and the Hendersons’. The same year she played the guest role of Aimee Thompson in sitcom series ‘Evening Shade’.

She made her Hollywood debut with a small role in the 1992 film, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’.

She landed her first major role when she was selected over many other actresses to play Julie Pierce in ‘The Next Karate Kid’ in 1994. Her gymnastics training proved helpful in learning the karate moves for the film.

Over the next three years she acted in television movies like ‘Victim of Rage’ (1994), ‘Terror in the Family’ (1996), and ‘Dying to Belong’ (1997).

In 1999, she was offered the role of Brandon Teena in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’. She was relatively unknown at the time of accepting that role, but her brilliant performance catapulted her into overnight fame.

Her Academy Award winning performance in ‘Boys Don't Cry’ (1999) is one of her most brilliant works. She played Brandon Teena, a young transman who is brutally murdered when people realize his sexuality. Swank was commended for her courage in taking up such a controversial role.

She played the role of Maggie Fitzgerald, a would-be boxer in Clint Eastwood’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’ (2004). Her performance earned her rave reviews and several awards.