Atlanta, GA 11/30/2010 11:15:04 PM
Hilary Swank struggled to gain weight for her new movie 'Conviction'.
The Oscar-winning actress had to put on 15lbs for her
role in the film, which is based on a true story, and admits she had to
completely overhaul her healthy lifestyle to achieve the feat.
The brunette star - who portrays Betty Anne Waters, a single mother
who, despite never finishing high school, put herself through law
school whilst working as a waitress to clear her brother Kenneth on a
murder charge - said: "I personally have difficulty keeping weight on,
and for this role I had to add 15lbs. My character, a single mom,
hadn't any opportunity to stay fit. For my own needs, I like working
out. But to gain weight I stopped that. Besides, this was an
independent film. Small budget. We filmed long hours, long days. No
time to work out.
"Normally I only eat until I'm full. On this shoot, I kept eating more.
Even when I was full, I'd eat more. With nowhere to go, the weight
stays on you."
Although she had to drastically change her body and appearance for the
role, Hilary doesn't worry about what she looks like on the big screen
because she does whatever is necessary for a movie.
She added in an interview with New York Post newspaper columnist Cindy
Adams: "Fortunately, I needn't worry how badly I look in a movie. I
always play characters so it doesn't matter."
As well as piling on the pounds, the 36-year-old Hollywood star also
had to learn to speak with a Massachusetts accent, something she also
found difficult.
She said: "I needed to develop a Massachusetts accent, which I worked
on with a dialect coach for months. That, too, was hard-won."