LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank returns to theaters Friday with the romantic comedy "P.S., I Love You." She plays a widow who starts receiving notes from her late husband, played by Gerard Butler, which helps her to rebuild her life.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY IS FAIRLY
WELL-KNOWN -- AT 16, YOU AND YOUR MOM RELOCATED TO CALIFORNIA
TO HELP YOU PURSUE YOUR ACTING CAREER. HOW WOULD YOUR LIFE BE
DIFFERENT NOW IF YOU TWO HADNT MADE THAT MOVE?
Hilary Swank: Who knows if (a person changed) one thing in your life where it would bring you? But I tend to think because I wanted to be an actor at such a young age that hopefully I wouldve ended up where I am today. I love my job. I dont even know if I can actually call it a job (because) when Im filming movies, it doesnt feel like work. Its a joy and a great passion, and I couldnt imagine my life being any different.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: EARLIER THIS YEAR, YOU WORKED WITH
DIRECTOR-WRITER RICHARD LAGRAVENESE ON "FREEDOM WRITERS," AND
YOUVE GOT ANOTHER PAIRING WITH HIM FOR "P.S., I LOVE YOU." WAS
THAT A CONSCIOUS DECISION ON YOUR PART?
Swank: After "Freedom Writers," "P.S." was the movie I wanted to make next. I love my collaboration with (LaGravenese). One of the things that I love most about this business is the collaborations, and I wanted to do it again immediately. (Those movies) are just so different from each other, which is the fun thing.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: AND THOUGH BOTH HAVE ELEMENTS OF
DRAMA, "P.S." IS SOMEWHAT MORE LIGHTHEARTED. WHATS EASIER FOR
YOU, DRAMA OR COMEDY?
Swank: You hear a lot of people say comedy is harder, and they both have their challenges. Making them real is the challenge. Comedy comes from a place of reality or you wouldnt laugh. And its very difficult to find the truth in comedy, so I would say that comedy has a leg up in the difficulty arena.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: DIRECTORS ARE FAIRLY FORTHCOMING
ABOUT WHAT THEY EXPECT FROM THEIR ACTORS -- HOW DO DIRECTORS
MOTIVATE YOU?
Swank: Making a movie and telling a story is all in the collaboration, and I feel like the director is at the helm of that. Its important when a director knows and understands that everyone works differently and that it shouldnt be a judgmental environment. It should be one in which we can all fall down and our directors there to pick us back up. They really give you that net in which they can catch you.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WITH "FREEDOM WRITERS," YOU WERE
PRODUCING AS WELL AS STARRING -- WAS IT DIFFICULT TO BALANCE
BOTH ROLES?
Swank: There are only so many stories that get made in a year and only so many things that I can actually be in as an actor in a years time, so I started producing to hopefully try to get some of these stories that I love to the screen. "Freedom Writers," was just one of those stories, just like I felt when I read (1999s) "Boys Dont Cry" and (2004s) "Million Dollar Baby" -- I felt this intense pull and connection to what it was about. Its so inspiring, and its the power of one person and how that person can change someones life.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: QUITE A FEW OF YOUR FILMS DEAL WITH
THE THEMES OR ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE. IS THAT ONE OF THE
THINGS THAT DRAWS YOU TO THOSE SCRIPTS?
Swank: As a kid, I experienced classism. It was really profound at the ages of 6 and 7 to experience that. We ultimately tell stories that represent parts of us, and telling those stories stems from that part of my past.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: DO YOU FIND ITS A CHALLENGE TO TRY
TO TELL AN INTERESTING STORY WHILE ALSO TRYING TO MAKE A
POINT?
Swank: The risk you run is if youre really making a movie to tell a point. I dont think there is a reason to do that. Its more about letting the story unfold in a way that you get all of that in. Telling the story of these freedom writers, for instance, is not to say, "Look at the point of the injustice within school systems." Although that is a part of it, its really about the power to overcome oppression and how everyone has to do that at some point in their life. And then theres the entertaining parts of how do these people go about doing that.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: FROM WHOM HAVE YOU TAKEN ADVICE
ABOUT YOUR CAREER?
Swank: There are times when I wish I had more mentors. I have an agent and a manager and a lawyer who have all been in the business for a long time and worked with wonderful people. They give me great advice, but I think in the end Ive really relied on my own instinct. ... The executives at (the films Warner Bros.-based producer) Alcon Entertainment, where I have my first-look deal, have been wonderful, and I would call them my mentors. Even Richard LaGravenese has become a very, very dear friend of mine.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW DID WINNING YOUR FIRST OSCAR
(FOR 1999S "BOYS DONT CRY") CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
Swank: It was such a wonderful surprise. I would say what changed is that I started to get more opportunities to do what I love, but they werent necessarily all the opportunities that I thought I was going to get. Clint (Eastwood) will say the same thing: (Winning an Oscar) doesnt secure anything, and you still have to go out and fight for those things that you believe in and that you love and that you want to be behind.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: YOUVE ALREADY PRODUCED, AND
INCREASINGLY MORE ACTORS ARE GOING BEHIND THE CAMERA. DO YOU
REALLY JUST WANT TO DIRECT?
Swank: I dont know if my passion lies there. Maybe thatll change. Right now, I love reading -- I dont look at a script from a different point of view other than, "How can I tell this story as honestly as possible through this character?" Maybe someday well be having a different conversation.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
