Hilary Swank has described the early years of her acting career as shaped by a film industry she says was heavily dominated by male perspectives.
In a recent Women’s Health interview, the two-time Oscar winner said that many of the roles available when she started out were written from a limited view of female experience. “When I started, it was more patriarchal than ever,” Swank said. “I was playing roles that were written by men from what a female point of view is, and it wasn’t necessarily true.”
Swank said she never rejected femininity but was resistant to external definitions of it. “It’s not that I don’t like being feminine — I just don’t like being told how to be feminine.”
Swank won her first Academy Award for Best Actress in 1999 at age 25 for her role in Boys Don’t Cry, portraying Brandon Teena, a transgender teenager in rural Nebraska. Five years later, she earned a second Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, playing a determined boxer training under an aging coach, portrayed by Clint Eastwood.
Speaking about her first Oscar experience, Swank said, “It was like I was shot out of a cannon.” Asked what she might say to her younger self during that time, she said, “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.”
Before those award-winning roles, Swank appeared in a range of smaller television and film projects. Her breakout role in Boys Don’t Cry led to critical attention and broader recognition. In recent years, she has appeared in series such as Yellowjackets while continuing to speak about representation and creative agency in the industry.
Swank said that while she sees changes taking place in casting and storytelling, her early experience often meant playing characters that lacked the complexity or accuracy she sought. Her comments highlight ongoing conversations around authorship and gender in film.
