Hilary Swank and dad Stephen Michael Swank in 2018.Photo:Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
Hilary Swankhas no regrets about the career hiatus she took to take care of her ailing father.
The actress, 49, talked about her latest project,Ordinary Angels, on theTodayshow on Monday, and after admitting that the film would have been her late father’s “favorite movie” of hers, she expanded on the time she took off to care for him several years ago.
“It was one of the most important times of my life, I think,” she said ofher acting hiatus from 2014 to 2017, which she took to help her father undergo a lung transplant and recover from it.
Swank said she was “blessed” to be able to take the time off, and that it “deepened” her relationship with her father, Stephen, whodied in 2021.
“We had a lot of fun as well,” she continued. “There was a lot of trials and tribulations within there, but it was extraordinary and nothing I would ever regret doing.”
Swank — who stars as a struggling hairdresser who helps a widower find a liver transplant for his young daughter inOrdinary Angels— said the movie’s topic resonated with her given her own experiences with her father.
Hilary Swank in ‘Ordinary Angels’.Lionsgate /Courtesy Everett Collection
Lionsgate /Courtesy Everett Collection
TheFatalestar opened up about her career hiatus in 2020, as she toldHealthmagazine thatit was “overwhelming” at timesto be her father’s primary caretaker.
“It was supposed to be a year, because it takes a year to see if an organ transplant takes. A lung transplant is the most difficult of all, as it’s an incredibly delicate organ," she said. “The plan was to take off a year. I became my dad’s health advocate. One year quickly turned into two and then three.”
Several months after that interview, Swank revealed onInstagramthat her father had died.
Hilary Swank and her father Stephen Swank attend ‘The Affair of the Necklace’ premiere in 2001.Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
In the New Year’s Eve post, she shared that she’d experienced a “tremendous personal loss” as her dad “made his transition to the other side” in October.
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In October,Swank marked the two-year anniversary of her father’s deathas she shared a sweetselfiewith him on Instagram, writing, “It’s been two years since you passed. You brought so much joy to all who were blessed to know you. Your memory still does. 🥰.”
“I love you forever. 💞🤍🙌🏽,” she added.
source: people.com
