Conviction
With her 2004 Oscar win for Million Dollar Baby, American actress Hilary Swank has joined the ranks of exquisitely rare Hollywood royalty.
She is one of just five women (Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field and Luise Rainer) the only actresses to have been nominated for Academy Awards twice and win both times who have twice been nominated for Academy Awards and won both times.
This month she stars in Conviction, a drama based on an inspirational true story that took place between 1980 and 2001.
Swank plays Betty Anne Waters, an unemployed single mother who gets a high school diploma before putting herself through university and then aw school to appeal to her brother’s wrongful conviction of murder.
We take a look at Swank’s rise to fame as well as the successful careers of four other Oscar darlings. Conviction hits cinemas on 14th January.
Hilary Swank
Humble beginnings have kept the two-time Oscar winning actress grounded and down to earth. She lived in a trailer park in the northwest U.S. for the duration of her childhood.
Her father moved out when Swank was 13, and with her mother’s support, the pair moved to Los Angeles, living out of a car until they could afford an apartment.
Her dedication to roles has allowed the Swank to scoop up acting awards with ease. She won her first Oscar in 1999 for Boys Don’t Cry, where she reduced her body fat to 7% to play the transgendered Brandon Teena.
At the 2004 Academy Awards, Swank won another Oscar for her lead role in Million Dollar Baby, where she gained 19 pounds of muscle. Swank has used her career as an actress to expose audiences to stories based on real-life people.
She executive-produced and starred in Freedom Writers about an inspiring teacher in an impoverished school. She uses her movie roles to promote what she is passionate about.
Reese Witherspoon
Before the blonde pixie charmed audiences as sorority girl Elle Woods in 2001’s Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon had a traditional Southern upbringing in Tennessee. Her multiple talents and perfectionist tendencies earned her the name “Little Type A” by her parents.
Appropriately, she has been in the business for 15 years, gaining international success by helming romantic comedies.
She won Best Actress at the 2005 Oscars for her role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, singing professionally for the first time in her life.
Outside of the spotlight, Witherspoon was married to Ryan Phillippe for eight years; they have a daughter and a son together.
She is active in children and women’s advocacy organizations. Witherspoon uses her only endorsement contract to raise awareness for other issues.
As Global Ambassador of Avon Products, she is the honourary chair of the Avon Foundation, which promotes breast cancer research and the prevention of domestic violence.
Charlize Theron
The South African stunner entered the industry with a modeling contract, first in Milan and then in New York. She studied ballet after the contract ended, until a knee injury closed that career path.
Theron moved to Los Angeles. A talent agent discovered her when he witnessed a shouting match between Theron and a bank teller. She rose to fame quickly, scooping up roles in big budget films.
She became the first African ever to win an Academy Award when she portrayed serial killer Aimee Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. Theron completely transformed herself, gaining 30 pounds and wearing prosthetic teeth for the role.
As a result, she became one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, raking in over $10 million USD per role subsequently. Theron uses her success to support admirable ventures.
She is actively involved in women’s right organizations, a member of PETA, and an advocate for Democracy Now! and same-sex marriage. Furthermore, she champions her home country.
She created Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project, an organization that is committed to create a safer, healthier life for the poverty-stricken children and communities in South Africa, especially focusing on those with HIV/AIDS.
Halle Berry
The Cleveland, Ohio native has been breaking barriers for African-American women in the entertainment industry throughout her life. She grew up participating in beauty contests; she was crowned Miss Teen All-American in 1985, Miss Ohio USA in 1986, and the 1986’s Miss USA runner-up.
She became the first African-American Miss World entrant in 1986. She broke into Hollywood portraying the first African-American actress nominated for an Emmy in the television biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
After starring in Monster’s Ball in 2001, Berry again broke down racial walls when she became the first African-American woman to win the Best Actress Academy Award. She has a baby girl with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.
Berry had to overcome deep personal issues in her life. Berry has been around domestic violence since her childhood; both she and her mother were abused. In addition, at age 23, she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.
As a result, she has never taken her fame for granted. She volunteers for the Juvenile Diabetes Association and the National Breast Cancer Coalition. She is also recognised for her humanitarian efforts for race relations.
Nicole Kidman
One of Hollywood’s most profitable Australian imports, Kidman was actually born in Hawaii to Aussie parents. She married her Days of Thunder costar Tom Cruise in 1990; they went on star together in two more movies that decade, Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut.
However, she did not hit international success until she played Batman’s love interest in the blockbuster Batman Forever, the second-highest grossing film in 1995.
She garnered her first Academy Award nomination in 2001 for Moulin Rouge!, finally winning the Best Actress award two years later as Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
After the high-profile divorce to Cruise, Kidman eventually got hitched to country crooner Keith Urban in 2006.
They have a daughter together. Kidman is the current Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. She advocates for women’s rights and breast cancer research.
Conviction is released 14th January
With her 2004 Oscar win for Million Dollar Baby, American actress Hilary Swank has joined the ranks of exquisitely rare Hollywood royalty.
She is one of just five women (Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field and Luise Rainer) the only actresses to have been nominated for Academy Awards twice and win both times who have twice been nominated for Academy Awards and won both times.
This month she stars in Conviction, a drama based on an inspirational true story that took place between 1980 and 2001.
Swank plays Betty Anne Waters, an unemployed single mother who gets a high school diploma before putting herself through university and then aw school to appeal to her brother’s wrongful conviction of murder.
We take a look at Swank’s rise to fame as well as the successful careers of four other Oscar darlings. Conviction hits cinemas on 14th January.
Hilary Swank
Humble beginnings have kept the two-time Oscar winning actress grounded and down to earth. She lived in a trailer park in the northwest U.S. for the duration of her childhood.
Her father moved out when Swank was 13, and with her mother’s support, the pair moved to Los Angeles, living out of a car until they could afford an apartment.
Her dedication to roles has allowed the Swank to scoop up acting awards with ease. She won her first Oscar in 1999 for Boys Don’t Cry, where she reduced her body fat to 7% to play the transgendered Brandon Teena.
At the 2004 Academy Awards, Swank won another Oscar for her lead role in Million Dollar Baby, where she gained 19 pounds of muscle. Swank has used her career as an actress to expose audiences to stories based on real-life people.
She executive-produced and starred in Freedom Writers about an inspiring teacher in an impoverished school. She uses her movie roles to promote what she is passionate about.
Reese Witherspoon
Before the blonde pixie charmed audiences as sorority girl Elle Woods in 2001’s Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon had a traditional Southern upbringing in Tennessee. Her multiple talents and perfectionist tendencies earned her the name “Little Type A” by her parents.
Appropriately, she has been in the business for 15 years, gaining international success by helming romantic comedies.
She won Best Actress at the 2005 Oscars for her role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, singing professionally for the first time in her life.
Outside of the spotlight, Witherspoon was married to Ryan Phillippe for eight years; they have a daughter and a son together.
She is active in children and women’s advocacy organizations. Witherspoon uses her only endorsement contract to raise awareness for other issues.
As Global Ambassador of Avon Products, she is the honourary chair of the Avon Foundation, which promotes breast cancer research and the prevention of domestic violence.
Charlize Theron
The South African stunner entered the industry with a modeling contract, first in Milan and then in New York. She studied ballet after the contract ended, until a knee injury closed that career path.
Theron moved to Los Angeles. A talent agent discovered her when he witnessed a shouting match between Theron and a bank teller. She rose to fame quickly, scooping up roles in big budget films.
She became the first African ever to win an Academy Award when she portrayed serial killer Aimee Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. Theron completely transformed herself, gaining 30 pounds and wearing prosthetic teeth for the role.
As a result, she became one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, raking in over $10 million USD per role subsequently. Theron uses her success to support admirable ventures.
She is actively involved in women’s right organizations, a member of PETA, and an advocate for Democracy Now! and same-sex marriage. Furthermore, she champions her home country.
Tagged in Hilary Swank