USA: Hilary Swank honored with star on the Hollywood walk of fame

Hilary Swank received the 2,325th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday (January 8), the latest honor for the two-time Oscar winner who lived out of a car with her mother when she came to Southern California. Swank was presented with her star in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre by honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant. "I can't tell you how much I love my job, I love it so much and I am grateful every single day I get to wake up and go do it. And I am grateful to show up in places like this and see my name immortalized on Hollywood Boulevard, in Hollywood, California with all these people who came before me who inspired me and made me want to grow and learn and get the most out of this life. So, thank you all so much for being here today. Thank you to my friends for supporting me when I've fallen down and brushed me off. This is just an amazing honor and a day I will never forget. Thank you all so much for coming," Swank told the assembled crowd. Swank received the star three days after the release of her latest film, "Freedom Writers," in which she stars in the true-life story of Long Beach Wilson High School English teacher Erin Gruwell, who sought to inspire a collection of would-be gang members, underachievers and misfits. Swank was also one of the film's executive producers. Born July 30, 1974, in Lincoln, Nebraska, Swank was raised in Bellingham, Washington, where she participated in school and community theater programs, swimming and gymnastics. As a teen, Swank moved to Southern California to further her acting hopes, living out of a car with her mother, Judy, until her mother saved enough money to rent an apartment. After several bit parts on various television sitcoms, she made her movie debut in 1992's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and, in 1994, played the title role in "The Next Karate Kid.'' Swank joined the cast of the primetime soap opera "Beverly Hills 90210" in 1997, portraying Carly Reynolds, a single mother working as a Peach Pit waitress, but was dropped after 16 episodes. However, that allowed Swank to audition for the first of her two best actress Academy Award-winning roles, Teena Brandon, a girl murdered after passing herself off as a boy, in "Boys Don't Cry." Swank was paid 3,000 dollars (USD) for her work in the 1999 film. Swank's second Oscar came for her portrayal of boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in the 2004 film "Million Dollar Baby." Swank also received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations as best actress in a made-for-television movie for thesuffragette drama "Iron Jawed Angels,'' which premiered in 2004. Swank's next film is "The Reaping,'' due out March 30, in which she will star as a former Christian missionary who lost her faith after her family was killed, becomes a world-renowned expert in disproving religious phenomena and investigates what appears to be biblical plagues in a small Louisiana town. Swank recently completed filming on "P.S., I Love You,'' due out in 2008, starring as a 30-year-old widow who receives a package of letters from her husband months after his death, each with a task she is supposed to complete to help move on to a new life. Swank's other film credits include supporting roles in "The Black Dahlia," opposite Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett; "The Gift," opposite Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves; and "Insomnia," opposite Al Pacino and Robin Williams.

ITN Source | January 11, 2007

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