The Hollywood actress turns 42 tomorrow. Shuib Taib looks at her much-lauded body of work
1. THE NEXT KARATE KID (1994)
In this fourth and final flick of the original The Karate Kid series, Miyagi is back and takes a new pupil under his wing – Julie Pierce (Swank) who is still feeling the pain of losing her parents in an accident and is having problems with her grandmother.
Since Swank could learn the advanced “flashy” moves but had trouble with the beginner moves, Pat E. Johnson, the martial arts choreographer for the movie, awarded her a Pink belt.
2. BOYS DON’T CRY (1999)
A dramatisation of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, an American woman who adopts a male identity and attempts to find love in Nebraska but falls victim to a brutal hate crime. Swank won the lead role after hundreds of other actresses were rejected over the course of three years. To prepare for her role, Swank lived life as a man for at least a month, including wrapping her chest in tension bandages and putting socks down the front of her pants much the same way that Teena did.
At the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000, Swank won Best Actress and achieved the same feat at the 57th Golden Globe Awards, winning the Best Actress – Drama award.
3. 11:14 (2003)
An indie black comedy about events leading up to an 11:14pm car crash, from five perspectives. The character of Buzzy (Swank) was originally written for a man. When Swank read the script, it was the character that “spoke” to her the most and she asked writer/director Greg Marcks to rewrite the role for a woman.
At the 2006 DVD Exclusive Awards, Swank was nominated Best Actress (in a DVD Premiere Movie).
4. MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
About an under-appreciated boxing trainer (Clint Eastwood, who also directed the movie) and his quest for atonement by helping an underdog amateur boxer (Swank) achieve her dream of becoming a professional. Swank engaged with her character Maggie easily as her upbringing was very similar. She underwent a serious training schedule to prepare for this film and gained nearly 9kg of muscle due to the workouts.
At the 77th Academy Awards, Swank received her second Best Actress in a Leading Role award and achieved the same feat at the 2005 Golden Globe Awards, winning the Best Actress – Drama award.
5. P.S. I LOVE YOU (2007)
Swank plays Holly Kennedy, a young widow who discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life. During the filming of a strip sequence, the suspenders of Gerard Butler (who played Holly’s husband, Gerry) hit Swank on the forehead. She had to be brought to a hospital where she received several stitches.
Swank won the 2008 People’s Choice Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actress.
6. FREEDOM WRITERS (2007)
Based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary by teacher Erin Gruwell, who wrote the story based on Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California, Swank plays Gruwell in a racially-divided LA school of at-risk teenagers deemed incapable of learning. Instead of giving up, she inspires her students to take an interest in their education, assigns reading material that relates to their lives and encourages them to keep journals. The movie received mostly positive reviews from critics with one singing praise for Swank’s energetic performance, leading a cast of unknowns.
Swank won a Goldene Kamera Award for Best International Actress.
7. CONVICTION (2010)
Based on a true story, Swank plays Betty Anne Waters, a working mother who puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders. Swank didn’t meet her real-life character, Waters, until just before the filming began. She said she wanted to get into the character, not just mimic someone.
At the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Swank received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.
8. THE RESIDENT (2011)
When a young doctor (Swank) suspects she may not be alone in her new Brooklyn loft, she learns that her landlord (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has formed a frightening obsession over her. The Financial Times gave the film four stars (out of five) and praised Swank’s performance. A small tight thriller that has few surprises, it nevertheless keeps you watching due to Swank’s allure and Morgan’s craziness.
At the 2011 Fright Meter Award, Swank was nominated for Best Actress.
9. YOU’RE NOT YOU (2014)
Swank plays a classical pianist who has been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Brash college student Bec becomes her caregiver. What will keep you glued to the screen are the performances of the two lead actresses – Swank as Kate and Emmy Rossum as Bec. Swank takes us on a torturous tour of how it is like to have your body deteriorate even as your brain remains lucid.
At the 2016 Jupiter Award, she received a nomination for Best International Actress.
10. THE HOMESMAN (2014)
Three women who have been driven mad by the hardships of pioneer life are to be transported across the country in a covered wagon by the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy (Swank), who in turn employs low-life drifter George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) to assist her. Critics praise Swank for her magnificent performance as a woman whose calm and capable exterior cannot completely conceal her worsening desperation. She brings a gravitas to her character that is undermined when some of her antics are played for laughs.
Swank was nominated Best Actress in several awards shows including Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, San Diego Film Critics Society Awards and Phoenix Critics Circle Awards.