INTERVIEW WITH HILARY SWANK
Written by: BeatBoxBetty
For more information, check out http://www.beatboxbetty.com

For an actress, the chance to play a man is always a welcomed challenge.
But when Hilary Swank landed the role of Brandon Teena in the gripping but
true-life story Boys Don't Cry, it was a bittersweet victory. In playing
such
a role, she'd be pushed to her limits as an actress, but what she was about
enter, would change her life forever.

Brandon Teena was a mysterious and charming boy who won the hearts of girls
in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. After arriving in the rural beat-up
town of Falls City, he fell in love with a local girl named Lana. But after
two of Lana's male friends discover that Brandon was actually a girl named
Teena Brandon, his world came to a violent and crashing halt.

Recently I got the chance to speak with Hilary on how she prepared for the
role of a lifetime and what she's learned from the whole exhausting
experience. Here's what she had to say:

BBB:  Congratulations on your amazing portrayal of Brandon. How on earth did

you prepare for such a challenging role?
Hilary: When I was offered the film after I auditioned it was very important

for me to be able to pass as a boy on the streets, so I lived my life for
four weeks "strapping and packing."  Which meant strapping down my breasts
and packing a sock in my pants.  There was a total physical transformation,
which entailed cutting my hair off - it was originally down past my
shoulders. We went into the barbershop and the woman just wouldn't cut it
off. She kept saying, "Are you sure? You have such beautiful hair."
Eventually she cut it, but she wouldn't give me a full boy haircut, so
somebody else there had to finish chopping it off. So that was the first
thing.

Then I did voice work - deepening my voice and working on the accent I'd
use.
Then I looked in the mirror and wondered what on my face was most masculine,

which was my bone structure, so I made that protrude by losing body fat.
Then I read all of the transcripts and all the articles I could get about
Teena Brandon when the whole thing went down in 1993.

I really needed to see what worked.  When I walked around passing as a boy,
I
wanted to know what people believed and what people didn't believe. That's
pretty much how I started prepping for the role.

BBB: Well, it really paid off. You are absolutely riveting to watch.
Hilary: Thank you.

BBB:  Since you're not gay, did you have any reservations playing this type
of role?
Hilary:  No. I had no qualms whatsoever. When I read that script I thought
'what an amazing role for an actress to play and to stretch myself
artistically' and I thought it was such an important story to share with the

world.  I just really wanted to be a part of it somehow. Later, it was scary

because I was hoping I could pass as a boy, and because it's not just a
movie. It's someone's real life and his family is still alive...that was
scary.


BBB:  What was it like during those four weeks when you passed as a guy?
Hilary: I thought in L.A. not that many people would gawk at me and people
would be more accepting of that, but to be quite honest with you, I found
myself feeling hopeless at times and very lonely and very sad. A lot of
people couldn't figure out what I was and if they couldn't fit me into their

stereotypical definition of a boy or girl, they didn't want anything to do
with me.  Sometimes I'd go home and just cry the whole day because I'd
realize that I was just an actress. But for people living out there like
this
- what a sad place. I was the same person I was when I had long hair. All I
did was cut my hair, strapped and packed and all of a sudden I was treated
differently - yet I was the same person with the same dreams and needs.

BBB: Did your husband (Chad Lowe) help you during those times?
Hilary: I have to say, I couldn't have made this movie without him. He's an
actor so he understood what I needed to do to get where I needed to go. When

we'd go out, he'd introduce me as Hilary Swank's brother. He was my only
salvation. I could go to him and he'd see past my physical appearance. Even
my close friends had a hard time with it all.

BBB: What did you learn from all of this?
Hilary: I've been very inspired from Brandon. He's changed my whole life.
I've also been inspired to live my dreams, to be myself and to live every
moment.  In society, everyone tells you what you should be and we're all
trying to figure out who we are. Now I'm living every moment fully. Brandon
had a fuller life in those twenty-one years than a lot of people who live to

be fifty.  So I've been lucky.

BBB: Any other similarities between you and Brandon?
Hilary: This is pretty weird, but I'm also from Lincoln, Nebraska.  I was
actually born in the same hospital he was born in.

BBB:  You know that people are saying you deserve an Oscar for this.
Hilary: Although it's nice when people respond to your work, I didn't do it
to win an Oscar.  That would be icing on the cake, but ultimately it's not
why I did it.  I try to take roles that inspire and challenge me.

BBB:  Because of playing Brandon so truthfully, you've also become sort of
an
icon in the gay and lesbian community.
Hilary: It makes me feel really good that you say that.  I feel that we're
all the same no matter who we choose to love. [Tears well up in her eyes] To

be seen as a role model or someone people respect means a lot to me. That
makes me feel really good.

BBB:  Well you deserve every bit of the praise. Thanks for talking with me
and I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Hilary Swank on screen and even
at the Oscars!