Clint Eastwood has an impressive reputation in the entertainment industry all thanks to his outstanding portfolio. Before winning the hearts behind the camera, he enticed his audience with his charming persona on-screen which made him a Hollywood heartthrob.
However, Eastwood was highly impressed by his colleague, Hilary Swank when she went through a monstrous transformation for her Oscar-winning performance.
Hilary Swank Went Through a Drastic Transformation for Her Million Dollar Baby Role
Clint Eastwood once talked about how he was awestruck by actress Hilary Swank with whom he co-starred in his 2004 film,
Million Dollar Baby.
Apart from his acting skills, he also served as a director and co-producer in the project. He shared that she would be fit to play Maggie Fitzgerald, a waitress who wants to be a professional boxer alongside him and Morgan Freeman.
But for her to portray the role, physical demands were highly involved.
“I just thought, ‘Yeah, this gal would be great. If we can get her trained up. If we can get a little bit more bulk on her, to make her look like a fighter.”
Praising her work ethic, he shared,
“She was like a feather. But what happened is, she had this great work ethic.”
His guts to choose the star was completely right as she was motivated to jab the role and started training hard for almost 5 hours. Sharing her training experience,
“I could do half a pull-up when I first started training.”
However, she kept on working hard and eventually nailed what she set her mind on.
“I literally, I tried to pull myself up, and I was shaking. And I couldn’t do it. And I couldn’t believe it. I thought, you know, and as a kid, you had, doing pull-ups and stuff. And then when I was done, I could do 11.”
She not only gained 19 pounds, but she also learned to box like a pro. This drastic transformation was a huge feat that she kept secret from even the filmmaker.
Clint Eastwood Was Impressed by Hilary Swank’s Transformation
Though the actress went through ups and downs to finally attain the bulk up she needed for the role. She opened up about staphylococcus infection that she
“got a blister the size of my palm on the ball of my foot.”
In just 2 days, the blister worsened. She shared,
“So, I went to the doctor that second, and he looked at me, and he said, ‘This is really serious. And if you had waited two more hours, you would have been in the hospital for three weeks. And if it gets to your heart, that’s it.’”
However, she didn’t tell Eastwood about her condition as she shared that the boxers often get injuries. This determination touched the director’s heart who shared,
“This is just another step in her path to greatness. She’s the best there is, as good an actress as I’ve worked with.”
Her hard work eventually paid off as she won an Oscar for her performance with the film grossing 216.8 million worldwide.