Swank's gone a long way for "Baby"
Lili2
By CELIA McGEE
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER
Training at Gleason's Gym for "Million Dollar Baby" was nothing
compared to the bi-coastal work Hilary Swank has put into campaigning
for a Best Actress Oscar.
Even her dog Lucky has had to get into the act as Swank traveled the
country and the airwaves giving interviews, accepting awards, posing
for magazine covers and generally keeping her girls-don't-cry "Baby"
persona in front of the paparazzi.
Lucky's lucky moment came just after he had accompanied Swank to her
lunchtime interview and before the photo shoot for the cover of this
month's Interview magazine.
He got a limo all to himself to drive him home.
At least neither he nor Swank had to hop yet another Learjet for the
session - Swank lives in the West Village, with husband Chad Lowe,
Lucky and two other dogs, a rabbit, a cat and a bird.
Unlike fellow nominees Catalina Sandino Moreno, Kate Winslet, Annette
Bening and Imelda Staunton, fashion-plate Swank would've been busy even
without the Oscar nod.
"Million Dollar Baby" opened late in the year, on Dec. 14, and didn't
go into wide release until two weeks later. This forced the actress
into double duty pushing the film and her Oscar-worthiness at the same
time.
Swank hasn't been this peripatetic since she descended on Hollywood at
15 with some gymnastics trophies, swim-meet awards and a mom who called
agents from a pay phone while the two spent nights in their car.
She knows the Oscar drill; she has a Best Actress statuette at home
from 1999's "Boys Don't Cry."
The opening bell for her first round this year actually rang a week
after the Dec. 5 premiere of "Million Dollar Baby" at the Museum of
Modern Art.
She made a happy-talk appearance in a bright red coat on NBC's "Today"
show. Her breath visible in the frigid morning air, she bantered with
Matt and Katie to build the movie's buzz.
She hit the other talks shows, too, in the month before she won a
Golden Globe and got her Oscar nomination.
Her agent, Troy Nankin, was recently in town with her as she trekked
back and forth between a "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" taping and
rehearsals for her guest-hosting duties on last week's "Saturday Night
Live."
Sometimes, he says, she has actually "just been home living her life
and cleaning poop out of the rabbit cage."
Here's what Hilary Swank has been up to since early December:
THE PREMIERE
"Million Dollar Baby," Dec. 5, Museum of Modern Art.
She wears: Black Calvin Klein dress.
She says: "When you're training as a boxer, [your mind] can certainly
inhibit you and get in your way."
AWARDS CEREMONIES
Critics' Choice Awards, Jan. 10, Wiltern LG Theater, Los Angeles.
She wears: Black Calvin Klein.
She says: The movie "helped me become a better actor and a better human
being."
New York Film Critics Awards, Jan. 9, Roosevelt Hotel, Grand Ballroom.
She wears: Another black dress.
She says: Director Clint Eastwood "waited in line for lunch like
everybody else."
Golden Globes, Jan. 17, Shrine Aud., L.A.
She wears: Off-the-shoulder Calvin Klein.
She says: Thanked "my trainers, Hector Roca and Grant Roberts, who
encouraged me to push myself beyond any imagination I ever had of
myself..."
Screen Actors Guild Awards, Feb. 5, Shrine Auditorium, L.A.
She wears: Vintage Versace (Versace Atelier)
She says: "I bow down to you," Swank tells Eastwood. "...a talent
beyond compare."
LUNCH DATES
Annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon, Feb. 7, Beverly Hills Hotel.
She wore: Balenciaga.
She ate: Lobster medallion with caviar, beef chateaubriand, sea bass in
ginger soy.
TV APPEARANCES
Today Show, NBC, Dec. 13.
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, NBC, Dec. 20, Burbank.
The Early Show, CBS, Dec. 28, W. 59th St.
The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jan. 31, Chicago.
"60 Minutes," CBS, Jan. 31, filmed partly in her West Village
apartment.
"Late Night With Conan O'Brien," NBC, Feb. 17, 30 Rockefeller Center.
"Saturday Night Live," NBC, Feb. 19.
MAGAZINE COVERS
Redbook, March.
She wears: A pink poorboy sweater.
She says: "I cut coupons, love specials, and believe in buying things
like toilet paper and toothpaste in bulk."
Interview magazine, March.
She wears: Alexander McQueen jacket over underwear by Fashion Bait.
She says: "I remember being lonely and not very happy most of the
time."
Vitals for Women, March.
She wears: Gucci satin dress.
She says: At a store displaying her Calvin Klein underwear ad -
"Look. Gee. It's me."