Hilary Swank used to sleep in her car before becoming a Hollywood star

`Zing Muse` – Hilary Swank has not been shy about her humble beginnings before finding success in Hollywood.

The Wall Street Journal published an article on February 20 about the two-time Oscar-winning actress’ rise to fame. Eager to start her acting career, Hilary Swank said she dropped out of high school at the end of her junior year after “my mom and dad split up.” The two drove to Los Angeles from Bellingham, Washington, to join the glamorous world of Hollywood.

“In Los Angeles, my mother and I first lived in her Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme on quiet streets. When we weren’t sleeping in the car, we stayed at a friend’s house when the family had just moved and was selling their house. We slept on air mattresses,” Hilary Swank added.

The actress is promoting her new film Ordinary Angels, inspired by the 1994 true story of a Louisville hairdresser and Kentucky residents helping a widowed father whose daughter was terminally ill. Hilary Swank stars as Sharon Stevens alongside Alan Ritchson (as Ed Schmitt) in the Jon Gunn-directed film.

“After about a month in Los Angeles, my mom got a job as a secretary and we rented a room from a single mom in Burbank,” Swank continued. “At first, I was only offered TV roles, but that was okay, I was excited to be living my dream.”

Hilary Swank (49) became a star on the 1990s ABC sitcom Camp Wilder and won two Academy Awards for Best Actress in 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry (directed by Kimberly Peirce) and 2004’s Million Dollar Baby (directed by Clint Eastwood). She was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2005.

Now, Hilary Swank and her husband (businessman Philip Schneider) and their twins Aya and Ohm live and travel between Colorado and Bellingham, Washington, where she grew up.

“Although I’m glad we left Los Angeles, sometimes when I go there for meetings, I still drive down a street in Pasadena where my mom and I parked and slept. Through the ups and downs, I always remember those years – when my mom and I had nothing,” Hilary Swank shared.

Linda (news)