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Hilary Swank: Karate Kid
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Hilary Swank, 27, is the movie star that exploded out of nowhere from nothing roles on TV's "Beverly Hills 90120," and in movies like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Next Karate Kid. She accepted a role in a small indie movie called Boys Don't Cry for very little money and suddenly found herself giving an Oscar acceptance speech after winning the Best Actress award.
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Little known fact: Hilary Swank starred in the movie The Next Karate Kid replacing an aging Ralph Macchio who was 33 years old. Poor Ralphie just can’t catch a break. I’m ... pretty sure she beat her Softie ex-husband. Just a hunch.
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Born July 30, 1974, in Bellingham, Wa., Hilary Swank was discovered in childhood by producer Suzy Sachs. While training as an actress, Swank was ... a champion swimmer and gymnast. She made her film debut in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and, two years later, beat out hundreds of auditionees for the title role of The Next Karate Kid.
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Born in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 30, 1974, Swank was raised in Bellingham, Washington where she excelled as a gymnast, swimmer, and actress in school and community theatrical productions. Swank’s parents divorced when she was 15, and her mother moved them to L.A. where Swank attended South Pasadena High School. For a brief period the two were so poor that they lived out of a car, and eventually Swank helped pay rent with TV guest appearances on “Harry and the Hendersons” and “Growing Pains” before completing high school. After a small role in the 1992 teen comedy “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, Swank nabbed the lead role in 1994’s “The Next Karate Kid”, beating out thousands of young actresses. Swank then spent a few years performing in unsuccessful films like the B-horror sequel “Sometimes they Come Back…Again” and the TV movie “The Sleepwalker Killing”.
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Start In The Business: Swank started acting professionally at the age of 16. Aside from a part in the movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992) and the lead role in "The Next Karate Kid" (1994), most of Swank's credits were in television.
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Swank says that unlike the inner city kids depicted in “Freedom Writers,” she never felt hopeless about her future because her mother was always supportive. Her biggest problem with school was all the rules — and that she talked too much.
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Karate Kid