Hilary Swank Movingly Describes Her 'New Sense of Purpose'
Motherhood has given Hilary Swank a new sense of purpose.
The Academy Award-winning actress became a first-time mom in 2023 with the birth of her and husband Philip Schneider's twins, daughter Aya and son Ohm. "I have a completely new sense of purpose and that is so beautiful and such a gift," Swank, 49, tells Parade in an exclusive new interview.
"I think for me, I feel blessed to be able to have babies, you know, this late in life, but it's also a blessing because I had so much time to focus on my career, which was another baby of mine," she continues. "And now I can really give focus to them in a way and I am in the blessed position of being able to work when I want to work."
Swank got pregnant after filming the faith-based movie Ordinary Angels. The moving film is based on the true story of the Louisville, Kentucky "snow baby"—a young girl named Michelle Schmitt, who needed a life-saving liver transplant. Swank's character, a struggling hairdresser named Sharon Stevens, re-discovers purpose in her life by helping widowed father Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson) and his family.
"I hope that moviegoers take away that goodness is really all around us," Swank says. "Especially right now in what is dark times and that we can be an angel in someone's life."
The P.S. I Love You star adds, "And it doesn't have to be a big act like Sharon does for these people, this family. It can be just a random act of kindness for someone in a day, and how that becomes a domino effect and can really create good change for someone that we don't know, that's just right even next to us."
Continue reading for Parade's exclusive interview with Hilary Swank about her new movie Ordinary Angels (in theaters Feb. 23) and more.
You're not one to shy away from a tear-jerker. What was it about this story that drew you to Ordinary Angels?
Yeah, this was a movie that when I read it, I jumped at the opportunity for so many reasons. I had just lost my dad and it feels like a movie that he would have been the most excited about that I have done to date. My dad was a Christian. Obviously it deals with the issue of organ donations and he was a recipient of a lung transplant [in 2014] and that saved his life. [And it deals with] just being imperfect. Imperfect people who are flawed and yet being an angel. You don't have to be perfect to be an angel in someone else's life and do good in someone else's life.
During filming or before, did you guys have a chance to meet Ed, Sharon or Michelle?
No! We didn't. Both Alan [Ritchson, who plays Michelle's father Ed] and I were working right up until we started this film. But I have this wonderful dialect coach Tim Monich and obviously I have quite an accent in this movie, and so I wanted to really pick Sharon's brain and I had questions for her and he called her and he asked her so that I could play it back and really listen to her and get the intonations of how she spoke and perfect the accent, so I was doing justice to her. And I got to know her a little bit through that, but all I really needed were these big broad strokes of who she is and what she did for for this family.
How hard was it perfecting that accent?
I love doing accents. I find that it helps you when you do them, the second you start using it, you're almost like, you feel like that character... It's hard work and it's a lot of work, but it's really fun work.
Courtesy of Lionsgate
I love your character's approach to life. She says to be comfortable being uncomfortable and life's about saying yes and then figuring it out. Do you share a similar approach to life like Sharon?
Yes, but I need to be reminded. And she seemed to be the one that was reminding others. But I think we can all so easily take things for granted. So I have a ritual of giving gratitude every night and going to bed in a state of gratitude, rather than lamenting what didn't happen in a day. I cherish what did happen right in a day and choose to reflect on those things instead, which I think just continues to open up the energy for goodness to happen. So that's how I try to live.
I lost it at the end of the movie when Ed told Sharon that she's a miracle. Who or what do you consider to be a miracle in your own life?
I would say my babies are my miracles. Finding a husband to share life with who is everything that I asked for and then some is a miracle. I would even go as far as saying that the hardships that I've endured have been miracles because they've helped set me up for who I am today, through persevering through those trials and tribulations. Without that, how do you get to where you are? Being able to have that outlook is also a miracle. Just meaning, I'm 49 years old now and I have the ability to look back and see how all of that has shaped who I am today.
Related: Hilary Swank Reveals What She Really Thinks About Journalists
Did you welcome your babies prior to this film or was it after?
No, I got pregnant after I filmed this movie.
Do you feel like being a mother has given you a new perspective on the role and the movie?
I don't know if I would have played it any differently, but certainly I have a new perspective just in life in general because I have these two beings that are the most important. And, you know, you need to be selfless as a mother. You've got to make sure that their needs are really coming first.
Courtesy of Lionsgate
I think I know the answer to this next question, but I've got to ask. This family gave Sharon a renewed sense of purpose in her life. Do you feel like you have a new purpose in your life since becoming a mother?
Oh, 100 percent. Of course I do. I have a completely new sense of purpose and that is so beautiful and such a gift. I think for me, I feel blessed to be able to have babies, you know, this late in life, but it's also a blessing because I had so much time to focus on my career, which was another baby of mine. And now I can really give focus to them in a way and I am in the blessed position of being able to work when I want to work. So being able to take, they're 10 months old now, take that time to really be with them in these formative and important, early, early days, really.
How important is it going to be for you to instill faith in your kids?
Really important. I think we have to have faith in everything and certainly faith when times get hard, but also faith when times are good to not forget to have faith in yourself especially.
If you can believe, this year is the 20th anniversary of Million Dollar Baby... Have you kept in touch with Clint [Eastwood] as of late?
Yeah, Clint and I remain close and he's obviously one of the most meaningful people in my life and such a gift for believing in me to portray Maggie Fitzgerald and I'm constantly reminded of, through him, of the people who have believed in me and given me opportunities to grow not only as a human being, but as an artist.
Do you guys have plans to mark the 20th anniversary this year, or still too early?
No one's brought it up to me. Not yet. Maybe you'll be the instigator!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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