March 2003 The Core : An Interview with Hilary Swank

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Interviewed by Wilson Morales The Core: An Interview with Hilary Swank Winning an Oscar definitely has its highlights. One of them is getting cast in films you would never be considered for in the first place. For Hilary Swank, things have turned out great, so far. Since winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry, Ms. Swank has done The Giftwith Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves. She also played the lead role in The Affair of the Necklace. Last year, she played opposite Oscar winners Al Pacino and Robin Williams in Insomnia. In her latest film, The Core, Hilary Swank plays an astronaut who must become a “terranaut” to save the Earth. In an interview with blackfilm.com, Ms. Swank talks about her role in the film and her latest theater work. WM: How long did it take you to understand what’s going in The Core in terms of the plot? HS: I think the beautiful thing about this movie is that a lot of people have saying in the scientific area that it puts the science back into science fiction. So much of science fiction is just fiction nowadays. So it’s a very smart movie and I think that what happens is that the electro magnetic field around the core of the Earth stopped spinning. It’s a true fact that if the Earth stopped spinning, everything would go haywire. Doves would fall out of the sky because their field of flying is all generated on the pull of the Earth and everything. So if the Earth stopped spinning, then we’re all doomed. Although probable, the chances of it really happening are very slim. I think that’s what makes the movie a great ride; it’s knowing something that could happen, but that’s not going to happen unless you go along with it. In the movie, we (the cast) go down to start the electro magnetic field around the core of the Earth to jump start it. We go down and drop explosives around the core and kick starts it and you have to be specific in doing this. For the mission to be successful, this task must be done correctly. WM: Were you totally absorbed in your character with all the emotions attached with it? HS: I’m not usually a science fiction fan or even a special effects fan. This movie to me was about something deeper. I think when you say the names of the actor in the film; it doesn’t conjure up special effects science fiction. I think it speaks of how smart the film is another level and the challenges that were there for me as an actor. Not only because I was reacting to special effects that weren’t happening yet and the challenges that that brought. A lot of people that I have become close to in the movie, those characters are put in danger because they are trying to save the Earth. WM: What was it that drew you to do this film? Was it the cast, the plot, or the fact that you would the play the role of a pilot? HS: First of all, the script was sent to me as a science fiction special effects movie but a lot of different than what we have seen before. I read it and it was. I thought that all the characters were really fleshed and really real within all the special effects. I have always wanted to be an astronaut. It’s the first thing I wanted to be and it’s challenging, and a whole new genre I haven’t done. WM: Now that you have one sci-fi film under your belt, would you do another? HS: It always depends on the script. I didn’t think I’d ever do a film like this but that you have to be open to things. Had I said to my agent, “Don’t ever send me science fiction movies”, I would never have been sent this. I’m always looking for something that I love and can relate to in one way or another. With my character Rebecca Childs, I could relate to her. She’s this strong woman who’s really driven and successful in a man’s world and I thought that really cool. WM: Are you comfortable with the patriotic undertones in the film in light of what’s going on with Iraq? HS: Honestly, I think this is a movie people will go to and escape from all of the stuff that’s happening and to me, that’s what my job is as an entertainer. To go and give people a place to go and maybe learn about something new or get lost in another person that they can relate to or just flat out be entertained. It’s an intense state of affairs right now in the world. WM: Many people didn’t who you were when you won the Oscar a few years. Do you think that’s changed now from the subsequent work you’ve done? Is there a pressure for you since you’ve won? HS: No. Being nominated and receiving the Oscar has opened a lot of doors that I don’t think ever would have opened to me before, so I’m really grateful for it. It’s been no curse, but a total blessing. I don’t think I would be getting all these opportunities had that not happened. WM: What do you look for in a role? Do you think about the box office or the character? HS: It’s a catch 22 because usually you want to do things that you just love and a lot of times in order to do those things, you have to do a movie that makes money so that you can keep doing things that you love. For me, I’m not willing to compromise my heart as well. If I find something, which I did in “The Core”, a great movie that could be really big that I really loved that way no matter what happens, I followed my heart. WM: Do you think any Hollywood film and role you now do can top the role you won the Oscar for, which was independently financed? HS: No because now I have an opportunity to do both. I can do independents and I can do big movies. Before I would have had the opportunity to do big movies too, but it would have in the small independent realm. Now if anything, it has afforded me more opportunities. I just a movie called “11:14”, which cost $3 million dollars. The director, Greg Marcks, wrote this great thing which was new and fresh, and I said, “I want to do this so you can get your movie made.” There’s a filmmaker right there that it was wonderful to help out because I think he’s really talented and he’s going to have a really good career. WM: What’s the film about? HS: “11:14” is a film where I play a girl who works a local grocery store. It’s another character film. It’s similar to “Run, Lola, Run”. WM: How much time researching your role for “The Core”? HS: Didn’t do as much research as I had done in other movies. I wanted to go to space camp but they told me my time in space would be limited and I wouldn’t even be floating. I sat down with Susan Marks, who’s an astronaut, and picked her brain. She was very generous with her time and let me pick away. I asked her everything because her background is similar my character as far as being in the Air Force. She’s actually a Colonel. She was plucked out because she’s so amazing at what she did there by NASA. WM: What are your thoughts on the Columbia shuttle that went down and how Paramount pulled the trailer to this film that showed you in a shuttle? HS: What happened was that our trailer opened in the same weekend when the shuttle went down so it out of respect for the families of those astronauts who died. No sense in giving them a commercial that serves as a reminder of what happened. Nothing was cut from the film because the shuttle scene is very minor. WM: You have decided to do theater next. What brought you to do “The Miracle Worker”? HS: For me, I have always loved the theater. I’ve always been inspired by people in the theater and I thought, “I’d like to do a play.” I’d like to challenge myself in a whole new area. If I’m not challenging myself, then something’s wrong. I like to stretch myself, and I felt like this play was it for me. WM: Knowing that Anne Bancroft won an Oscar for this role, was there any intimidation factor? HS: There absolutely was. I knew that this had been done before and it was done really well and but it really hasn’t been done since. I liked that this is the revival of it. It was one of the first movies that I saw so I was really looking forward to being able to inspire kids in a way that inspired me. It’s been challenging. I’m exhausted to the bone, physically and mentally.