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Hilary Swank: Million Dollar Baby
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Swank won her first Oscar playing a crossdressing teen in 1999's dead-serious drama Boys Don't Cry. She said she prepared for the role by shaving off all her hair and living as a man for a month before filming. The film was based on the true story of a girl named Teena Brandon, who had been molested, began dressing as a boy as "a defense strategy", and was eventually murdered when her secret came out. Brandon's mother and friends condemned the film for its many liberties with the facts, but as drama, the movie was a riveting success. She won her second Oscar for Clint Eastwood's 2004 masterpiece Million Dollar Baby, playing a boxer from a white trash background. To prepare, Swank trained for five months, boxing for at least two hours daily, and put on 15 pounds of muscle.
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With sadness, Hollywood couple, Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe jointly announced on May 26, 2006 that they were filing for divorce. During the marriage Swank received “Best Actress” Academy Awards for her roles in the movies “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby.” Chad Lowe, best known for being actor Rob Lowe’s brother, has spent the majority of his acting career as an episode guest star on numerous TV series. The marriage received immense notoriety when Swank forgot to thank her husband in her acceptance speech after receiving the Oscar for “Boys Don’t Cry.” Mortified at her guffaw, Swank used every public opportunity in the following months to praise and profusely thank Lowe for his love and support.
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Swank began pounding the pavement for screen roles at 16, but it wasn't until her starring role in The Next Karate Kid (1994) that Hollywood started to take notice. Bit parts in film (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and TV (Beverly Hills 90210) kept her busy until a tiny little independent film came along and changed her life forever. Hilary fought hard for the lead role as transgendered teen Brandon Teena in 1999's Boy's Don't Cry, which paid off with an Oscar for Best Actress. She went on to make period pieces (Affair of the Necklace), psychological thrillers (Insomnia) and big-budget adventure flicks (The Core), but her films didn't create much of a stir until she played another underdog in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (2004). The role garnered her a second Best-Actress Oscar win, making her one of the youngest actors ever to claim that honor.
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Two-time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank brought home the gold for playing tough-girl roles in Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don't Cry. In real life Hilary says she's a girly girl at heart. "I like putting my heels on, and my pretty dresses."
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Hilary Swank has revealed she came within hours of death after catching a bug while filming. During the making of Million Dollar baby she noticed a blister on her foot, she popped it then later spotted a rash developing around the wound.
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Hilary Ann Swank is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress. She has become known for her two Oscar-winning performances: first in "Boys Don't Cry", for which she ... won a Golden Globe, and in "Million Dollar Baby", for which she also won a Screen Actors Guild Awards.
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