Biography:

Hilary Swank was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 30, 1974. She grew up in Bellingham, Washington and as a child, spent much of her time involved in athletic activities. She was a swimmer in the Junior Olympics and state championships, and ranked third in her state for gymnastics. At the age of sixteen, she relocated to Los Angeles follow her dream of becoming an actress.

Her first screen credit was as the associate in the feature film, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992) about a flighty teenage girl who learns that she is her generation's destined battler of vampires. Two years later, she gained fame when she was chosen to star in "The Next Karate Kid".

She was then hired and cast in numerous small films and movie projects, and worked on "Beverly Hills, 90210" for one season with Tiffani Thiessen, as Steve's girlfriend Carly. In 1999, she was hired for a role that would change her life forever in the independent drama, "Boys Don't Cry". Based on the account of Teena Brandon, a woman whose real life decision to lead her life as a man met with tragic consequences, "Boys Don't Cry" was a runaway smash hit and showed that she was capable of headlining a movie, and gained her the attention of tabloid media and audiences around the country. For her work she won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress. 

Her next projects included "The Gift" working along side mega celebrities Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves and Katie Holmes in 2000, "The Affair of the Necklace" (2001), the thriller "Insomnia" (2002) with Al Pacino and Robin Williams, "The Core" (2003) where the only way to save Earth from catastrophe is to drill down to the core and set it spinning again. Next was the made for television movie "Iron Jawed Angels" with future "Doc" Patrick Dempsey, for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe, and finally "Red Dust" in 2004.

In 2004, she received the chance of a lifetime with her role of a champion boxer in Clint Eastwod's "Million Dollar Baby" next to Morgan Freeman, for which she won an Oscar, SAG and Golden Globe for Best Actress. The film tells the story of a hardened boxing trainer and manager who works with a determined woman in her attempt to establish herself as a boxer.

A number of  hit films followed including "The Black Dahlia" (2006) with Scarlett Johansson, about two policemen who see their personal and professional lives fall apart in the wake of the "Black Dahlia" murder investigation. Next was the crime drama "Freedom Writers" (2007) starring with Patrick Dempsey" about a young teacher who inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school. 

Next was the horror thriller "The Reaping" (2007) about a former Christian missionary, who specializes in debunking religious phenomena, investigates a small town which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues. And finally "P.S., I Love You" (2007) about 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.

The following year, she was hired and cast in the comedy "Birds of America" (2008) about a regular guy who struggles with a repressive home and professional life, as well as making amends for the trouble his free-spirited brother and sister cause about town. And finally, the biographical "Amelia" (2009) starring Richard Gere, a look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world. 

Hilary married actor Chad Lowe in 1997 but the couple divorced in May 2006.