Categories Articles & Interviews Career

Hilary Swank Opens Up About ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ Backlash, and Examines Its Legacy

The independent film boom of the 1990s launched many brilliant actors, but perhaps none flew higher than Hilary Swank. She took the chance on a risky role in a micro-budget film with a provocative subject matter and an unknown director — and walked away with an Oscar. Then a relatively unknown TV actress, she was paid $3,000 for the film. (As she often said, “I had an Academy Award, but no health insurance.”) However, in a recent interview at the Crosby Street Hotel to promote the Netflix movie “I Am Mother,” she lit up when discussing the heyday of independent film.

“I thought, ‘Wow this is my opportunity to break into film,” she said. “Famous people weren’t taking the risk on independent film, and they weren’t getting paid to do independent film, so there was no interest for them. But, newcomers couldn’t break into film because the studio system was like, ‘We only use famous people.’”

Directed by Kimberly Peirce and produced by Christine Vachon’s Killer Films, “Boys Don’t Cry” is a seminal work in the queer film canon. Distributed by Fox Searchlight in 1999, it was a critical and box-office surprise success that went all the way to the Oscars. At the time, Swank took a huge gamble on an incredibly challenging role and what was then an incendiary topic.

“I broke into film with that movie. But it was like such a long shot,” said Swank. “It was made for nothing; I made $3,000. The idea of making a movie for a certain budget, it was just this brilliant idea of being able to take a risk on telling a story that there is an audience for, you just have to make it to be able to find that audience. Right? Build it, they will come. So it was a super exciting time. Super exciting time for film. And then obviously it took off.”

With sensitivity and heart, the film tells the story of transgender man Brandon Teena’s (Swank) first exploration of his gender, early pivotal romance, and tragic murder, all anchored by Swank’s powerful breakthrough performance. The effects of the film rippled into audiences who had never seen a sensitive portrayal of a transgender person, much less given any thought to the violence they face every day simply for being themselves.

“I believe [‘Boys Don’t Cry’ will] for sure be the most important thing that I was ever a part of,” Swank said proudly.

Following the film’s release, Swank became the spokesperson for The Hetrick-Martin Institute, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ youth services organizations. During her 10-year tenure, she helped find a home for New York’s Harvey Milk High School, a public high school catering to at-risk LGBTQ youth.

“There are so many hate crimes that are still occurring in the world, not just in our country, that people weren’t even aware of until [‘Boys Don’t Cry’] was made,” Swank said. “At the same time, Matthew Shepard and the horrendous crimes against him were like blips in the news here and there. But with that movie, they became more of a conversation.”

In many ways, it kicked off the conversation around transgender representation in film that continues to this day. But in recent years, some activists in the trans community have criticized the film for casting Swank, who is cisgender, as a trans man, and for having been directed by Peirce, a cisgender lesbian. On a 2016 visit to Reed College, the filmmaker was greeted with protests.

“I think in some ways it’s been criticized and in others it hasn’t. And I think if people knew the outpouring of letters and people on the streets who have come up to me in tears, thanking me for telling their story,” Swank said. After pausing for a few seconds, she added: “I hold on to that. That’s important to me, and to be that spokesperson for that amount of time. I’m happy that times are evolving and changing and that people are getting the opportunity to tell their own stories.”

Source: https://www.indiewire.com

Categories Career Movies News

Hilary Swank to Star in Jason Katims-Matt Reeves Space Drama at Netflix

‘The Path’ grad Jessica Goldberg will serve as showrunner on ‘Away,’ with Ed Zwick set to direct the pilot.
Hilary Swank is continuing her TV push.

The actress, who most recently starred on the FX drama Trust, has been tapped to topline Netflix’s space drama series Away.

From Jason Katims (Parenthood) and Matt Reeves (Batman, The Passage), Away centers on Emma Green, an American astronaut who must leave her husband and teenage daughter behind to command an international space crew embarking on a treacherous mission. The drama explores hope, humanity and how people need one another in order to achieve the impossible.

Jessica Goldberg has signed on to serve as showrunner, reuniting with Katims following Hulu’s The Path. Ed Zwick (Nashville, The Last Samurai) will direct the first episode and executive produce. Andrew Hinderaker will pen the script for the first episode and exec produce alongside Katims, Reeves and his Sixth and Idaho topper Adam Kassan; former True Jack head of development Michelle Lee (the pilot); and Katims’ current True Jack topper Jeni Mulein (episodes two through 10). Away is loosely inspired by Chris Jones’ Esquire story of the same name.

The project marks Swank’s latest TV series role. The two-time Oscar winner (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) is fresh off Trust, which was her highest-profile TV foray since recurring in the late 1990s on Beverly Hills, 90210. She is repped by WME, Management 360 and Jackoway Austen.

Away is being produced by Universal Television and represents one of Katims’ (Parenthood, Friday Night Lights) last series for the studio before he departs his longtime home for a deal with Apple starting in the summer. He also has the Fox drama pilot Sisters looking likely for a series pickup, and the Amazon pilot On the Spectrum.

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com

Categories Career News

Toronto: Hilary Swank, Mahershala Ali, Maggie Gyllenhaal to Keynote Festival

Drake will introduce the opening-night screening of the indie drama ‘Monsters and Men’ to a hometown audience.
Hilary Swank, Mahershala Ali and Maggie Gyllenhaal are set to take part in candid conversations as part of the Toronto Film Festival’s In Conversation With… series, organizers said Thursday.

Swank, in Toronto to tout What They Had, the directorial debut from screenwriter Elizabeth Chomko, will talk about her Oscar-winning career, as will fellow Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, who is bringing his latest film, Peter Farrelly’s 1960s-set road trip movie Green Book, to TIFF for a world bow.

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com

Categories Appearances Career Movies

2018 Sundance lineup

Hilary’s new film will have world premiere at Sundance festivale next year.

What They Had / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Elizabeth Chomko, Producers: Keith Kjarval, Bill Holderman, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa, Alex Saks and Andrew Duncan) — Bridget returns home to Chicago at her brother‘s urging to deal with her mother‘s Alzheimer‘s and her father‘s reluctance to let go of their life together. Cast: Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Blythe Danner, Robert Forster. World Premiere

Source: http://ew.com/