Empathy in Acting

Hilary Swank is one of just 14 women to win not one but two Academy Awards for Best Actress (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby). And as you’ll learn today, her life story just as remarkable as her career: from growing up in a trailer park (“it was no big deal”) to moving to L.A. as a teenager and living with her mom in their car for a time while chasing her dreams, to her breakthrough role as Brandon Teena in the indie film “Boys Don’t Cry” – a performance that earned Hilary an Oscar, and just $3,000. She also reflects on playing a transgender character as a cisgender woman; which movie she feels doesn’t get nearly the credit it deserves; and how she envisions the next chapter of her career after becoming a mother last year.

Hilary’s newest film is called Ordinary Angels.

Links from the show: 

• Oscars acceptance speech for Best Actress in Boys Don’t Cry
• Acceptance speech for Best Actress in Million Dollar Baby
• Boys Don’t Cry Memorable Moments
• Freedom Writers (2007)
• Ordinary Angels (Feb 22, 2024)

See all our episodes – including conversations with Tom Hanks, Jason Sudeikis, Bjork, and many more – at TheGreatCreators.com.

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