“People will say, ‘Why don’t we see more of you?’ Well, because there’s a lack of scripts that are interesting to me,” the two-time Oscar winner told BuzzFeed News.
Dawn Jones/Roadside Attractions
When Hilary Swank read the screenplay for The Homesman, she became determined to play Mary Bee Cuddy, the movie's female lead. The character is a principled, monied, 19th century Nebraska frontierswoman who lives and farms by herself, but is searching for more: meaning, purpose, and love — she ends up going on a dangerous adventure. So Swank emailed Tommy Lee Jones, who co-wrote the script (which was adapted from a novel by Glendon Swarthout), and was going to direct the movie, produce it, and star in it. Swank told BuzzFeed News recently that after they met, Jones said, "Great, let's do it." She then added: "I wish it was always that easy." The Homesman opens Nov. 14.
Swank, 40, has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress. The more recent one was in 2005 for Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, in which she played a doomed boxer. The other was for Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry, for her portrayal of Brandon Teena, who lived life as a boy (though Swank is less sure about Teena's identity, as you will see below). Having begun acting as a teenager, her career has spanned genres. And now, she is very choosy.
Swank talked at length to BuzzFeed News about The Homesman and other roles of her more distant past toward the end of a press junket. She also spoke passionately about shelter dog adoption, and her upcoming dog-a-thon on Thanksgiving night: Fox's Cause for Paws, which she is co-hosting with Jane Lynch. Not coincidentally, there was a dog, Dot, at the interview. "I wasn't necessarily planning on her coming home with me," Swank said. "But I think we've fallen in love."
The Homesman drops the audience into a world without any explanation of what it is, and the viewer has to figure it out as it goes. What did you think of Mary Bee when you first read the script?
Hilary Swank: I fell in love with her, because to me, she has all the qualities that I personally feel are lacking in this day and age: values, morals, manners. She does the right thing just for the sake of doing the right thing. But in general, what drew me to the script was the way women are objectified and trivialized in this film — that's what we connect to today. It's 150 years later, and we're still dealing with those issues.
Tommy Lee Jones is known as someone who does not suffer fools.
HS: That's right. I have enormous respect for him. And I appreciate that he's able to be himself, and not really care about what other people think in a world where we're almost overly enthusiastic about what other people think about us.
Did you know that you would get along with him?
HS: We got along great. I get along with most people. Even people who I find to be egotistical, I can even find a soft place in my heart, because I know that's usually a front and an insecurity. No, we got along smashingly. Not that he's egotistical!
Dawn Jones/Roadside Attractions
Did you have the same views on the character?
HS: Yeah. And as you film, the character is infused in you more and more, and so I think there's more trust at that point. But I think Tommy Lee was just really specific about the words: He wanted the words the way they were written on the paper. And it wasn't because he had an ego about being a writer, and having written the words, but there was a rhythm that was very important. He said, "There's a rhythm to it, and when you say the words the way they're written, you'll find it, and it will be there." I did see that when I watched the movie.
There aren't a lot of movies like The Homesman. Did it feel like something came along that's rare?
HS: People will say, "Why don't we see more of you?" Well, because there's a lack of scripts that are interesting to me. I'm fine doing one movie a year. There's so much that I put into my movies, that it takes a little while to step back from it for a second and kind of gain my bearings again. They're just few and far between — the good stories, and then the good female role within it.
She's a feminist character, and a badass. But she has needs.
HS: Still wants to find love and receive love. She's very human that way. That's what I love about her, too: It's lonely. It just goes to show, you can be as fiercely independent as you want, you can have it all under control, you may not need anybody. But you still want to share your life with somebody, you still want to have company. You get lonely. People get lonely. We're here on this earth to procreate and to find a partner.
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