Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Hilary Swank

Rate this book
As a lonely child growing up in a trailer park, Hilary Swank dreamed of becominga successful actress. Her determination and talent took her from living in a carto eventually earning two Academy Awards by the time she was thirty. The amazingmomentum of her career continues for the woman now considered one of the greatestactresses of her generation.

Library Binding

First published September 1, 2006

7 people want to read

About the author

Dwayne Epstein

15 books20 followers
Dwayne Epstein is the author of a number of young adult biographies, covering such celebrity personalities as Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Hilary Swank, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and Denzel Washington for Lucent Books' "People in the News" series.

Epstein also contributed to Bill Krohn's bestselling books "Hitchcock at Work" and "Joe Dante and the Gremlins of Hollywood."

Prior to writing biographies, Epstein contributed to film chronicles on a regular basis. He wrote for Filmfax Magazine on subjects such as Bobby Darin, the Rat Pack, television pioneer Steve Allen, film director Sam Fuller, comic book artist Neal Adams, "Invasion of the Body Snatcher's" Kevin McCarthy, John Belushi, and comedy legend Sid Caesar.

Epstein later contributed to Cahiers Du Cinema's "Serious Pleasures" which had a high profile in Europe. He wrote on American films chosen for rediscovery by directors Oliver Stone, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, and Clint Eastwood.

His N.Y. Times bestselling biography, "Lee Marvin: Point Blank," will soon be followed by 'Killin' Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen, The Most Iconic World War II Film of All Time," to be published on April 25, 2023, by Citadel Press.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
1 (100%)
4 stars
0 (0%)
3 stars
0 (0%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Taher Haitami.
14 reviews4 followers
April 28, 2015
Hilary Swank is a devoted actress who came from a very humble background. Her mother was a secretary and her father worked in the Air National Guard and trailer park management. As a young girl, she was always very motivated and could complete any task she set her mind to. She challenged herself to climb a tree almost twenty feet high, and succeeded after many tries. This proved to be a virtue that would aid her on her journey to become a renowned actress. Her mother lost her job as a secretary and got divorced. Both of them were desperate and”go to hollywood and make Hillary's dream of becoming an actor a reality”(Epstein 21). Since they had nothing left, they were forced to live in their car until Hilary’s mother’s friend let them temporarily use her house. Hilary’s mother contacted agent after agent until eventually the Gold Agency agreed to find auditions for her. Hilary Tried out for many auditions, and what set her apart from other aspiring actors was the fact that she too ever audition as a learning experience. Her lack of formal training put her at a disadvantage, but she persevered. She eventually got a few low-key roles. She met Chad Lowe and they got married. Hilary eventually got what she was waiting for. A Columbia University film major wanted to turn a true story about a girl who pretended to be a boy her whole life into a movie. This movie was Boys Don’t Cry. The Director had been looking for the right actor, but nobody had the qualifications necessary. Fortunately, they saw Hilary’s tape and were blown away. Hilary did her best to become her character, and her effort paid off because she won an academy award. At 25, she was one of the youngest actors to win an Academy Award. her devotion and determination to acting all payed off. She got many auditions after her victory, and even played in a movie with Al Pacino. She did not pursue high-profit films, but instead opter for movies that challenged her and allowed her to become a better actress. Hilary Swank had to endure insults about her looks and poverty, but her determination and perseverance were not in vain. She rose to stardom and fulfilled her dream.

I knew almost nothing about Hilary Swank before reading this book. I heard her name before and i generally wanted to know who she was and what her life was before she became a Hollywood actress. Hilary came from nothing and had no formal training in acting. However, she became successful because of her determination and her will to survive. She could have given up many times on her journey, but she persevered and became an actress. Hilary swank played a girl who wanted to be a boy in Boy’s Don’t Cry. After her stunning performance, she got many letters from her fans thanking her for helping them understand their sexual orientation through her brilliant performance. Hilary lived in New York during the attacks of 9/11, and she inspired many people to help by volunteering to help the animals harmed during the attack. Hilary Swank became famous because she becomes the characters she plays as. She wastes no time in learning the character’s habits and speech. She even went so far as staying in character the whole time the film was being shot. All of these qualities made Hilary Swank a great actress.

I would recommend this book to fans of HIlary Swank. This book gives a quick, yet thorough, account of Hilary Swank’s life. Her fans might understand her better as well as her style of acting by reading this book. However, people who enjoy stories about actors raised in poverty and grew to fame would also appreciate this book. Hilary’s life was very normal, and this book describes the plights of her adolescence because she grew up with few friends because of her poverty.This book is inspiring and encourages following one’s dreams .
Profile Image for Driss Sekkat.
18 reviews
Read
December 5, 2016
Hilary Swank was born in July 30, 1974 at Lincoln, Nebraska. Hilary Swank had two important jobs including being an actress and producer. During here working years she won two Academic Award for being the best actress and she also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. Her spouse was Chade Low but only from 1997-2007. Her last movie she acted in was “You’re Not You”. Hilary’s mother, Judy Kay, worked as a secretary and a dancer. But Hilary’s father was a Chief Master Sergeant in the Oregon Air National Guard and was later a traveling salesman. Swank’s first movie being produced is “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. The most popular movie that Swank acted in was Million Dollar Baby that was produced in 2004 and that was the year she got the Best Actress Oscar.


Most importantly, the prime information to know that this book is a biography is that it talks about someone’s life and a biography is always about someone's life. Hilary Swank because famous because of her extraordinary acting skills that made her improve her popularity and got to acting with better actors in better movies. If I got to meet this actor I would only have two questions to ask her because she is not that special of an actor but she got into good movies. The first questions is, “Did you always want to be an actor or did you have another fantasy?”. The last questions that I would ask Hillary would be, “Did you ever expect of having a Best Actress Oscar?”


I recommend this book to many people but their are two important people. The first type of people that I recommend this book to is to people that love to act because Hillary was an actor. The second type of people that I would most importantly recommend this book to is to people who want to be producers. The book isn’t that hard and would be to 6-8 graders because it has big words and a lot of pictures. A very good reason people should read this book is that it’s short and short books are the books that people like to read for a goodreads.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.