Hilary Swank is sharing how some of her early acting roles didn’t necessarily align with what she was looking for in a character.
During a recent interview with Women’s Health, the two-time Oscar winner explained how Hollywood “was more patriarchal than ever” at the beginning of her acting career, making it more challenging for her to choose her ideal roles, which featured complex and strong characters.
“Thankfully, it’s becoming more inclusive. But when I started, it was more patriarchal than ever,” she said. “And so I was playing roles that were written by men from what a female point of view is, and it wasn’t necessarily true.”
Swank added, “It’s not that I don’t like being feminine — I just don’t like being told how to be feminine.”
The Yellowjackets actress starred in several projects before landing her Oscar-winning role in 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry, which follows a young transgender man named Brandon navigating love, life and trying to pass as a boy in rural Nebraska. She won her second Academy Award a few years later for 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, which centers on an ill-tempered old boxing coach who reluctantly agrees to train an aspiring boxer to help her achieve her dream of becoming a professional.
Swank said winning her first Oscar at just 25 years old felt “like I was shot out of a cannon.”
When asked what she would say to her younger self, the actress responded, “I probably would say, ‘Take a breath for a second.’ I’d say to really ruminate on the choices that you’re making every day. Make sure what is happening is what you want. That’s the only control we have — the choices we make every day. My time is my life.”
