The Achiever

Sheer determination fuels HILARY SWANK’s impressive body of work.

- Stephanie Trong

For one of her New Year’s resolutions, Hilary Swank has taken up tap dancing. It’s something she has wanted to do ever since she became obsessed with 42nd Street as a teen. Now, at age 44, she’s eight lessons in. And while she’s not aiming to be musical-lead good, she thinks that, with enough practice and perseverance, anyone can get there.

“I believe that applying yourself in something you really want to achieve is of the utmost importance,” she says. “As far as we know, we have only one life. And how do you choose to live it? If there’s something you can’t stop thinking about, like, ‘Hey, I want to tap like in 42nd Street,’ why wouldn’t you just go every night and tap for a couple of hours?”

Call it the Hilary Swank method, this mix of grit and tenacity—a do-the-work approach that has yielded handsome dividends: two best actress Oscars (for Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby); longevity in a notoriously fickle industry (she’s wonderful in Danny Boyle’s FX drama Trust, about the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III); and a thriving business (her luxe leisure line, Mission Statement, hits Nordstrom in August and Net-a- Porter this fall. Also coming soon? Shoes).

“I love to challenge myself,” says Swank. “I’m a fire sign.”