After Eastwood chose Swank to star in his movie Million Dollar Baby, the pair of actors lit up the screen together as a young fighter and her mentor.
When it comes to celebrities, at times it can be very hard to figure out how they actually feel about one another. After all, over the years there have only been a handful of famous actors who’ve gone public about the times they couldn’t stand their co-stars for one reason or another.
Even though Hollywood is a place that is defined by artifice, even professional actors find it hard to keep up an act for years on end. For that reason, over time it can become very clear that two stars who claimed to be close weren’t really friends as they are never spotted together and stop singing one another’s praises.
When it comes to Million Dollar Baby’s Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank, if you take a close look at their relationship, it is pretty obvious that the respect they share is completely genuine.
Stand Out Talents
Throughout Hollywood history, there have only been a handful of performers that have managed to define Hollywood for a generation. Definitely, an actor who pulled off that feat, Clint Eastwood has starred in so many classic films that attempting to list them all here would be a foolhardy effort. In fact, Eastwood is so respected as a filmmaker and actor that many of his kids were welcomed into Hollywood and it seems likely that he will continue to work as long as he wants to.
Unfortunately for Hilary Swank, despite the obvious acting talent she possesses, it has often seemed like Hollywood has turned its back on her. Even though Swank often doesn’t get the opportunities she should, she has accomplished an awful lot during her career. Simply spectacular in films like Boys Don’t Cry, The Gift, Million Dollar Baby, and Logan Lucky, Swank seems to be able to do it all as an actor.
Great Results
Even though Clint Eastwood has enjoyed a huge amount of critical and commercial success during his career, there is no doubt that something special happened when he worked with Hilary Swank. After Eastwood chose Swank to star in his movie Million Dollar Baby, the pair of actors lit up the screen together as a young fighter and her mentor.
On top of Million Dollar Baby performing well with audiences, the movie proved to be among the most celebrated of Clint Eastwood’s career and that is really saying something. After all, Million Dollar Baby took home a slew of Oscars including the Best Picture and Best Director trophies that went to Eastwood and the Best Actress award which Hilary Swank won.
On A Personal Level
On top of the ways that Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank’s careers were advanced by their roles in Million Dollar Baby, working together had a positive effect on their personal lives too. While it seems likely that calling Eastwood and Swank aren’t the best of friends, from all indications the two actors enjoyed working together and they still have a bond years later.
For proof of Eastwood and Swank’s ongoing relationship, look no further than the fact that the pair reportedly got together to enjoy a meal in recent months. If getting together years after they worked together wasn’t enough of an indication of their ongoing bond, the reports say it was a social call since they weren’t there to discuss a future project.
Considering Clint Eastwood’s advanced age and the fact that he seems to no longer care about the trappings of fame, it isn’t surprising that he hasn’t gushed about Hilary Swank in public. On the other hand, Swank has made her feelings about her former co-star quite clear. For example, in 2017 Swank was asked about working with Clint during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live and she sang his praises. “He just made me feel right at ease and, but I mean, he’s a legend. I love him but, you know, he quickly makes everyone feel really comfortable. He stands in the lunch line and never wants to cut.”
During another interview with the Independent from 2015, Hilary Swank outlined how deeply she respects Clint Eastwood and she made it clear that she considers him to be a mentor. “I adore Clint Eastwood for all the reasons everyone else does. We actually have been talking about trying to find something. It’s a matter of aligning our schedules, but I would do anything if he asked. I wouldn’t even need to read it, I would just say, ‘yes!’.” Considering all of the things that Swank has done, including working with astronauts which was a childhood dream of hers, it says a lot that Eastwood is such an important person to her.