Following her 1992 film debut in the horror comedy Buffy the Vampire Slayer, actor and producer Hilary Swank has become one of Hollywood’s most prolific faces and names. The Academy-Award nominated star had her breakout role as Julie Pierce in The Next Karate Kid, going on to move audiences as aspiring boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby.
Despite these roles earning the actor critical and commercial success, Swank regrets one role after an ongoing development in socio-political climates and attitudes towards diverse identities. The 1999 film Boys Don’t Cry, directed by Kimberly Peirce, who co-wrote the film with Andy Bienen, tells the tragic story of Brandon Teena, a trans man murdered by two transphobes called John Lotter and Tom Nissen. Swank plays Teena, with Chloë Sevigny playing his girlfriend, Lana Tisdel.
The discourse surrounding people who align with the biological sex they were assigned at birth playing trans characters in trans stories has remained ongoing and heated on online platforms. Additional examples include Terence Stamp playing a trans woman in the (slightly transphobic) The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, directed by Stephan Elliott, and Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl.
Redmayne received a nomination for the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’ for his role as Lili Elbe, an artist who was one of the first to receive sex-reassignment surgery. However, the star later apologised for the role in a GQ interview, stating: “I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake.”
Swank, who also received the Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’ for the role, has taken a similar change in outlook, taking progress towards trans people’s presence in art and entertainment into account. “21 years later, not only are trans people having their lives and living, thankfully,” she said, as reported by Gay Times. “But we now have a bunch of trans actors who would obviously be a lot more right for the role and have the opportunity to actually audition for the role.”
Swank added: “We still have a long way to go in their safety and inclusivity.”
Boys Don’t Cry presents anxiety and misogyny as audiences observe Teela carry out a carefully scripted vision of traditional masculinity. The film balances harrowing yet insightful, depicting the emotional and physical threat trans people are subjected to. After reading about the case while in college, Pierce carried out extensive research for the script, which took five years to complete.
The casting process took around four years as the director scouted LGBT+ spaces to find masculine presenting lesbians to play the role of Teena after Drew Barrymore was initially considered for the part. The queer community responded with their utmost support and enthusiasm for the project, looking to it as a tribute to a victim of a mindless hate crime from a marginalised community.
Swank landed the role after lying about her age, claiming to be 21, the same age as Teena, when she was a year older. When confronted by Peirce about the lie, the actor argued Teena would do the same thing, impressing the director.
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This content was originally published here.
