Hilary Swank

Birth Details:
July 30, 1974
Lincoln, Nebraska

Born to rule, this determined and irrepressible Leo has won two out of two Oscar nominations and is the first woman ever to win an Oscar playing a boxer.

'I don't know what I did in life to deserve all this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream.'

Hilary Swank's Tarot Reading

Sun in Leo:

Of Spanish and Native American heritage, Hilary Ann Swank starred in her first play as Mowgli in The Jungle Book when she was nine years old. From there, she got involved in local theater and school plays.

Hilary lived and went to school in Bellingham, Washington until she was 16. She competed in the Junior Olympics and Washington State Championships in swimming, and ranked fifth in the state in all-around gymnastics. The training would serve her well later on in The Next Karate Kid and Million Dollar Baby.

Hilary and her mother, Judy Swank moved to Southern California in 1990, where she attended South Pasadena High School and later Santa Monica College. In the beginning they struggled to make ends meet, sometimes even living out of their car, but there is no stopping a determined Leo. In 1992 she got a part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Her big break came in 1994 in The Next Karate Kid. She has had regular work in the industry ever since, going on to win an Oscar for Best Actress for her 1999 role as Brandon/Teena in Boys Don't Cry. In 2004 she scored another major star turn: Clint Eastwood's 2004 boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, for which she won a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and her second Academy Award.

Proud and intensely individual, this Lioness wants to stand out and be the star. Doing something well and being respected for it is the bottom line for Swank, who must put her personal stamp on everything she does. Her portrayal of Brandon/Teena in Boys Don't Cry came in at number 83 on Premiere Magazine's List of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

Hilary prepared rigorously for both of her Oscar-winning roles. She cut off all her hair and lived 'as a boy' for a month for Boys Don't Cry and buffed up considerably to play Maggie in Million Dollar Baby. About learning to box, Hilary says, 'Obviously the physical aspect of it is huge, but it is such an unbelievably mental challenge. There's such an art to boxing, it's like a great game of chess. When you're in the ring, you're one with your opponent. Everything goes silent and it's you and that person. You hear your breath. You hear the other person. And as you try to figure out their strength and weakness, you're learning about your own strength and weaknesses. And each person that you spar or fight with, their strength and weakness brings out new strength and weakness in yourself. And the second you think, 'I have this person,' and get cocky, you can lose and you usually do. It's a great analogy to life. You have to remain humble and have respect for the other person.'

Hilary Swank has big dreams and enough determination to bring them into being. She has a romantic heart and a love of the dramatic and extravagant. She needs to be great and to receive the love and applause of an adoring audience, even if that audience is just one special person.

She needs someone to believe in her and in her dreams. Though she may appear radiantly self-confident and independent, she is actually quite dependent on the affirmation, love and recognition of others.

She loves wholeheartedly and knows how to make her beloved feel special. Fiercely loyal, she will defend her loved ones. Hilary needs a partner who is as strong-willed as she is but who will not try to dominate or compete with her.

Her strengths are her zest for life, her creative power and her warm, generous heart. Her primary fault is her tendency to be egocentric.

With her Mercury in Cancer, Hilary is interested in inner personal issues. Her thinking is based more on feelings and intuition than reason or logic. Intellectual pursuits without heart or soul mean little to her. She is an empathic and sensitive listener who is deeply interested in a person's feelings and inner life.

Venus in Cancer indicates that Hilary is sensitive and sentimental. She is deeply attached to family, friends and familiar places. She is romantic and tender in love, with an innate understanding of how to keep romance alive. She believes there are three keys to making a relationship work: mutual respect, communication and believing in one another. Remembering birthdays, anniversaries and other days of personal significance is important to her.

Having Mars in Virgo makes her something of a perfectionist and she may labor over minute details that others wouldn't bother with. Hilary can become so much of a perfectionist and so self-critical that she might not even attempt certain projects, fearing that her efforts wouldn't be good enough. She is usually quite realistic in assessing what she can accomplish and sometimes underestimates herself. However, if she applies herself in a given area, she will gradually gain self-confidence as she develops expertise.

Jupiter in Pisces gives Hilary the ability to empathize and identify with others. This renders her incapable of taking advantage of or hurting another person. She cares about the underdog and may also be unusually impressionable or have highly developed psychic sensitivity. On what it takes to reach your goals, Hilary advises young actors, 'You need to study and work on your craft. If you're not prepared when that dream audition comes, you are not going to get that opportunity. To me, the definition of success is when opportunity meets preparation.'

Bio info from www.IMDb.com