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— by Larry Carroll
The story is nearly as old as the Oscars themselves. Obscure actor gives award-winning performance, becomes the toast of Hollywood overnight, chooses a succession of follow-ups that go nowhere and rapidly returns to obscurity. Ask Cuba Gooding Jr., Louise Fletcher or Mira Sorvino about the phenomenon, and they'll likely dismiss talk of a curse while steering the conversation toward their upcoming straight-to-DVD release. Mention the concept to Halle Berry, Charlize Theron or Adrien Brody, and they'll insist that they never think about it, and that rumors of an upcoming "Catwoman vs. Aeon Flux" film are unsubstantiated.
Just over a year ago, Hilary Swank seemed destined to become the next cautionary tale. After 1999's "Boys Don't Cry" put an Oscar in her hand and Hollywood at her feet, the actress endured five years of so-so flicks. Audiences didn't dig "The Core" (2003), yawned at the idea of paying to see "Insomnia" (2002) and suspected that perhaps "11:14" (2003) marked the final countdown on Swank's 15 minutes of fame.
Then, thanks to Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and a pair of bloodied boxing gloves, Swank battled back in 2004 and, with her role in "Million Dollar Baby," embarked on a rare career renaissance.
Now, at age 31, Swank stands at a crossroads — one path pointing toward her anointment as one of the premier actresses of her generation, the other offering the unappealing prospect of possessing roughly twice the trivia-question cachet of, say, Marisa Tomei.
"Are you calling 'The Next Karate Kid' a clunker?" Swank teased during a recent interview, flashing her famously wide-mouthed grin while discussing her hard climb to the top. "I like to say that it made some money, and some people really appreciate it; obviously you didn't."
Swank isn't the type to dis her old gigs. Instead, she insists that everything — from the highs of "Million Dollar Baby" to the lows of "Sometimes They Come Back ... Again" — had something to teach her.
"I don't look at them as, 'Oh, that's embarrassing,' " Swank said. "I've learned a lot from every single job, and I think that every experience you have prepares you for whatever's next. It depends on how much you put into it, and I certainly put a lot into anything I've ever done."
As Hollywood lauded her once again after Eastwood's "Baby," Swank carefully plotted her 2005 trajectory. The result? Three upcoming films, all highly anticipated dramas that take her into previously unexplored realms while putting her talents (and her ability to wisely choose projects) to the test.
The second round of Swank's post-Oscar roles began with the filming of a supernatural thriller entitled "The Reaping," the first big-budget starring vehicle of her career. Shot throughout Louisiana in the months surrounding the Hurricane Katrina disaster (Swank was evacuated via airplane during the shoot), the late '06 release will star Swank as a former Christian missionary investigating modern-day manifestations of biblical plagues.
"I don't even know what to relate this movie to," she said of the film. "There is a great twist at the end, so it's a little 'Sixth Sense'-like, and it's a smart scary movie, so it's not just like someone running around with a knife killing people. It has some brains to it."
While leading a cast of supporting actors including David Morrissey ("Basic Instinct 2") and AnnaSophia Robb ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"), Swank insisted that her Oscar bookends meant little when the time came to face down computer-generated locusts and rivers of blood.
"I definitely have a deeper appreciation for people who make special-effects movies," Swank acknowledged. "When you're watching a movie and you're an audience member you can kind of think, 'Wow, that's a weird reaction,' or you can think, 'That's a really great reaction,' but either way [the actor or actress] knows that they're not really reacting to anything, and that it was all filled in later by CGI. Acting is really reacting, as they say. So you're reacting to what [the director and effects people] are telling you is going to be there, and you just hope that it's really going to be there, so you don't look like a fool."
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Hilary Swank has been in some terrific films — and she's been in some genuine stinkers. Here's a bit of both...
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Another potentially foolish, but unapologetically daring, opportunity presented itself when legendary director Brian De Palma ("Scarface," "The Untouchables") approached Swank to play a femme fatale in his true-crime thriller based on "The Black Dahlia" murder that captivated 1940s Los Angeles. Although Swank had been known to put on the occasional sexy awards-season dress, the role required her to move beyond the tomboy tendencies that had thus far defined her career.
"I've gotta mix it up for myself, to keep myself on my toes," she said of the film, which finished shooting in May. "I've got to keep trying things that scare me."
With long flowing hair, figure-hugging dresses and a noir-film smoothness to her voice, Swank will border on the unrecognizable while starring alongside Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson and Aaron Eckhart.
"I'm a femme fatale, yup," Swank offered, clearly excited by the opportunity to play against type. "Great dresses, great costumes, hair, make-up — it was great."
Finishing out 2005 and leading into 2006, Swank went from devilish diva to taciturn teacher, dressing in conservative skirts and motherly blouses for the schoolroom drama "Freedom Writers."
"This is a true story about this amazing, inspirational woman named Erin Gruwell," Swank said of the fact-based tale of a teacher who inspired her inner-city students through the power of the written word. "She changed the lives of these kids by getting them to look within themselves and see that they had the power to create the life that they wanted."
Utilizing the powerful prose of the real-life students, the film is part "Dangerous Minds"-type inspiration, part "Bring It On"-like irreverence.
"I actually didn't know how to do the Electric Slide," Swank laughed when asked about her younger co-stars (including R&B singer Mario) and their tendency to dance on set between takes. "They got me in tip-top form real quick. I can completely do it now."
When director Richard LaGravenese ("Living Out Loud") saw the impromptu dance-off, he was inspired to write it into the script.
"Now you can see that when you see the movie," Swank said of her dancing in the film (due in theaters February 2007). "You can see me doing the Electric Slide — or trying, in my white girl way."
While keeping herself busy with three daring roles, Swank is clearly determined to make 2005 a year to remember and, perhaps, avoid another ignominious slide of her own — the slow slide into post-Oscar oblivion.
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