
Biography
Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series Camp Wilder and made her film debut with a minor role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). She then had her breakthrough for starring as Julie Pierce in The Next Karate Kid (1994), the fourth installment of The Karate Kid franchise, and as Carly Reynolds on the eighth season of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1997–1998). Swank came to international recognition for her performances as Brandon Teena, a transgender man, in Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry (1999), and as Maggie Fitzgerald, an aspiring boxer, in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (2004). Both of her performances earned her critical acclaim, and she earned numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Movie Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005. Swank later ventured into producing with the films Amelia (2009), Conviction (2010), You're Not You (2014), and What They Had (2018), all of which she also starred in. Her other notable films include the television film Iron Jawed Angels (2004), and the feature films Freedom Writers (2007), Logan Lucky (2017), The Hunt (2020), and Fatale (2020).
Awards & recognition
- BBC 100 Women · 2015
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 2005
- Golden Globe Award — Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama · 2004
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 2000
- Golden Globe Award — Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama · 1999
Show all 9 awards →
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Golden Globe Award — Best Actress – Television Series Drama · 2023 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 2005 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 2000 · nominated
Filmography50+ titles

BoJack Horseman

Million Dollar Baby

Freedom Writers

Disclosure

Ordinary Angels

Yellowjackets

The Masked Singer

Explained

You're Not You

Boys Don't Cry

Beverly Hills, 90210

Alaska Daily

P.S. I Love You

Conviction

Trust

Insomnia

Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy

Saturday Night Live

Iron Jawed Angels

11:14

I Am Mother

Logan Lucky

55 Steps

Cries Unheard: The Donna Yaklich Story

The Hunt

Away

What They Had

The Homesman

The Gift

Growing Pains

The Kelly Clarkson Show

The Daily Show

Mary and Martha

Something Borrowed

Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story

Fatale

Terror in the Family

New Year's Eve

Red Dust

The Sleepwalker Killing

Harry and the Hendersons

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Resident

The Reaping

The Core

Amelia

The Black Dahlia

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

The Affair of the Necklace

Buffy the Vampire Slayer