Hilary Swank

Swank made her stage debut at age nine in The Jungle Book and became involved in school and community theater, including the Bellingham Theatre Guild. She attended Sehome High School until she was sixteen, also competing in the Junior Olympics and the Washington state championships in swimming, and ranking fifth in the state in all-around gymnastics. When her parents separated, her mother moved with her to Los Angeles, where they initially lived out of their car. Swank enrolled in South Pasadena High School (though she later dropped out) and started acting professionally, appearing in TV shows like Evening Shade and Growing Pains to help pay rent.

Her film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and a major role in The Next Karate Kid (1994), where she played Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of Mr. Miyagi. In 1997, she was cast on Beverly Hills, 90210 but was written out after 16 episodes, a setback that freed her to audition for Boys Don't Cry (1999). For that role, she reduced her body fat to seven percent, and her performance as Brandon Teena won her the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Actress. She won her second Best Actress Oscar for Million Dollar Baby (2004), playing a boxer and training in the ring while gaining 19 pounds of muscle. She joined elite company as one of only a few actresses to win two Academy Awards from two nominations, and she is the third-youngest double Best Actress winner.

Swank has also produced films like Freedom Writers (2007), and she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. She has signed contracts as a spokesperson for Guerlain and has expressed that she is an "actor, not a celebrity," describing herself as a homebody who is spiritually inclined and athletic. Her personal life includes a marriage to actor Chad Lowe from 1997 to 2006, and she later dated her agent John Campisi. Swank has admitted that her intense role preparations, such as weight fluctuations for Boys Don't Cry and The Black Dahlia, led to elevated mercury levels, but she remains committed to believability in her craft.