Hilary Swank’s starring film, Boys Don’t Cry, garnered national attention for its strong premise. The film’s narrative revolved around the real-life story of a transgender man, portrayed by Swank. The role won her various accolades, including an Academy Award.
However, Swank wasn’t the only one in the race to book the role, as the director of the film, Kimberly Peirce was considering casting a transman for it. Although the role was seemingly meant for Swank as when the filmmakers came across her audition video they were amazed by her physical appearance.
How did Hilary Swank book the Oscar-winning role?
American actress Hilary Swank has appeared in some incredible movies throughout her acting career. The actress proved her acting skills not just nationally, but she attained international recognition for her performance in the 1999 film, Boys Don’t Cry. In the film, the actress portrayed the role of Brandon Teena, who is a real-life transgender man. Swank not only earned widespread praise for her role, but she also won an Oscar for best actress in 2000.
However, her journey to this Oscar wasn’t very easy, as she wasn’t the only one who was running in the competition to book the role. The director of the film, Kimberly Peirce considered casting a transman for the role rather than going for a cisgender woman. Peirce’s dedication to finding a perfect fit for the role was so great that he conducted various interviews, both as research for writing the film and in an effort to cast the central role.
Swank auditioned for the role of Brandon along with two transmen, Silas Howard and Harry Dodge, who were also considered for the role.
The purpose of the filmmakers behind the casting of Brandon Teena was that they wanted an actor who could look authentic in the role. During an interview, the casting director of the film, Kerry Barden, said,
“We went all over the country looking for someone to play this important role.”
However, looking for a perfect fit was not a very easy task, as the outreach was mostly to non-professional actors. Hence, the makers decided to opt for traditional casting and finally found Swank a perfect fit for the role of Brandon.
Hilary Swank’s physical appearance was key to getting the role
After much toil and research, the filmmaker finally found a perfect match who could portray Brandon Teena. Peirce saw something in Hilary Swank that impressed her so much that she ended up finalizing her for the role. During an interview, Peirce said,
“Hilary’s tape came in and she has a naturally angular face. She has those gorgeous brown eyes, and it’s not that she passed necessarily as a man, it’s that she blurred the gender line. So that was a real win that I had not found in almost every other actor that I looked at, other than the trans men and the drag kings.”
To ace the role of a transgender man, Swank worked with trans people and observed their lives. She took their help to do voice training.
Boys Don’t Cry can be streamed on Hotstar.
Source: Laist
