While discussing her new Netflix movie “I Am Mother”, Hilary Swank took a look back at “Boys Don’t Cry”, the 1999 movie that put her on the map thanks to her Oscar-winning performance.
At the time, Swank was primarily known for roles on TV series such as “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Growing Pains”, and for starring in the 1994 bomb “The Next Karate Kid”. When she had the opportunity to portray transgender Brandon Teena in “Boys Don’t Cry” she jumped at it.
“I thought, ‘Wow this is my opportunity to break into film,” she explained in an interview with IndieWire. “Famous people weren’t taking the risk on independent film, and they weren’t getting paid to do independent film, so there was no interest for them. But, newcomers couldn’t break into film because the studio system was like, ‘We only use famous people.’”
The 44-year-old actress admits she never expected the film to be as successful as it was. “I broke into film with that movie,” she said. “But it was like such a long shot. It was made for nothing; I made $3,000. The idea of making a movie for a certain budget, it was just this brilliant idea of being able to take a risk on telling a story that there is an audience for, you just have to make it to be able to find that audience. Right? Build it, they will come. So it was a super exciting time. Super exciting time for film. And then obviously it took off.”
In recent years, however, the film has been criticized for not casting a transgender actor as Teena, yet she believes the film was able to kickstart a cultural conversation that’s become increasingly louder in the two decades since “Boys Don’t Cry” was released.
“I think in some ways it’s been criticized and in others it hasn’t,” she added. “And I think if people knew the outpouring of letters and people on the streets who have come up to me in tears, thanking me for telling their story… I hold on to that. That’s important to me, and to be that spokesperson for that amount of time. I’m happy that times are evolving and changing and that people are getting the opportunity to tell their own stories.”
Looking back, Swank remains proud of the film. “I believe [‘Boys Don’t Cry’ will] for sure be the most important thing that I was ever a part of,” she said.
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Meanwhile, “I Am Mother” debuts on June 7 — here’s a preview:
