Hilary Swank on her ‘trip to Mars,’ winning Oscars and heeding Clint Eastwood’s advice

Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank knows more than a thing or two about beating seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s this indefatigable spirit that enabled her to completely vanish into roles that eventually yielded two best actress trophies at the Oscars: For 1999’s “Boys Don’t Cry” and 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby.”

But the 46-year-old performer’s thespic resilience and grit didn’t just come from out of nowhere.

“I certainly have felt there are many times that I find myself in places where I don’t belong,” Hilary admitted to us when we recently talked to her on Zoom about Emma Green, the astronaut character she portrays in the 10-episode sci-fi drama series “Away,” which debuts on Netflix this Friday.

“We’ve all experienced the feeling of being an outsider. And that, in my case, was when I was a young girl growing up in a lower socioeconomic background,” she recalled. “That wasn’t considered being in the ‘right side of the tracks,’ as they say. And it’s a very lonely feeling. But it is what it is. It helped shaped who I am today—it fueled my fire to persevere and never give up.”

In “Away,” Hilary is tasked to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa) five-nation endeavor to go on a three-year exploratory mission to Mars.

While Emma has to prove her worth to her colleagues, composed of defiant Russian cosmonaut Misha Popov of Russia (Mark Ivanir), the pragmatic chemist Dr. Lu Wang of China (Vivian Wu), the sensitive fighter pilot Ram Arya of India (Ray Panthaki) and the prayerful British-Ghanaian botanist Kwesi Weisberg-Abban (Ato Essandoh), she must also come to terms with her unshakable guilt for leaving behind her increasingly sick husband, chief Nasa engineer Matt Logan (Josh Charles), and their 15-year-old daughter Lexi (Talitha Bateman).

But hitting forks in the road isn’t something out of the ordinary—whether for Emma or Hilary.

Cast of Netflix’s “Away” (from left): Hilary Swank, Josh Charles and Talitha Bateman

To refresh your memory, Hilary was only 15 years old when she and her supportive mom took a leap of faith to help jump-start the teenage girl’s passion for acting. The mother-and-daughter tandem then decided to move from Washington to Los Angeles and, as a result, had to live out of their car while they were “testing the waters” in La-La Land.

Even in high school, Hilary had difficulty fitting in—an experience that made her feel like an outsider, always “justifying” her presence or existence. “I didn’t even feel like the teachers wanted me there,” she quipped.

“I felt like I wasn’t seen or understood,” she was quoted in early interviews. “I felt I belonged only when I read a book, saw a movie, or got involved with [creating] a character. So, it was natural for me to become an actor because I wanted so much to be those other people.”

Hilary may not have learned rocket science back in the day, but she said it didn’t hurt that the script of the Netflix series, penned by Andrew Hinderaker, Ellen Fairey, Jason Katims, Janine Nabers, Aditi Kapil, Chris Jones and showrunner Jessica Goldberg, wasn’t hard to love.

“It was so well-written that I felt like all I had to do was understand what the writers were trying to convey,” the actress-producer mused. “I had conversations with some real astronauts and got a good understanding of the physical and emotional toll it takes to be one, and to go through the different types of scenarios they face. [So all my task required was] just trying to be ‘present’ with what was already on the page.”

And while she’s known for going to great lengths to fully embody the complex characters assigned to her, Hilary said in jest that she has her limits where space exploration is concerned.

Swank (third from left) with VivianWu, Mark Ivanir, Ray Panthaki and Ato Essandoh in the sci-fi series “Away,” which premieres on Friday.

“I wanted to be an astronaut before I wanted to be an actor,” she revealed when asked if she could imagine herself hurtling into space to take a trip to the red planet. “So, yes, I did want to become an astronaut—and it’s a lot of fun to be able to pretend that I am one now (laughs).

“While I could definitely go on a mission to outer space, I don’t think I’d take one all the way to Mars! The idea of spending three years to get there is a little too much for me. But I’d love to go to the moon.”

Excerpts from our quick to-and-fro with Hilary:

Given your extraordinary body of work, what kind of challenge did this series present to you? And what sort of training was required for you to pull this off? We have to make special mention of the edge-of-your-seat complexity seen in Episode 2, which took our breath away.

Thank you so much for that! You know, when you put your heart into something, then the amount of work that everyone in this show collaborated to bring onto the screen is appreciated, it just makes me so happy. Because we put so much love and heart into this.

I’m so used to doing movies, so it takes a lot of effort for me to [do a series and] be in a situation where we’re filming so much as we’re learning lines and going through a lot of emotional ups and downs every single day. That in itself was a challenge. Then, the physical challenge of training and looking like we were in zero gravity was a whole other thing—because, in actuality, we were not.

But being held up by those wires while our hips acted as a pendulum—“you squeeze your glutes to go forward, or squeeze your abs to go backward”— it was just a lot! We really worked hard inside that space shuttle, but at least we had to go through it together.

Bateman (left) and Swank —PHOTOS FROM NETFLIX

There have been more female leads in sci-fi lately. Did you think about the role on those terms?

What I love about this show is that I play a woman who is the commander of a mission to Mars. But [Emma’s gender] isn’t really the show’s source of conflict or drama, you know? Five years ago, that would have been the focus of conversation. Instead, it’s just about another human being who just happens to be the right person for the job. Just like anyone else, she has to gain the trust of the rest of the crew members.

I love that we’re seeing this multiracial crew, and transcending gender and race. I love that we have an LGBTQ angle in the storyline, as well (no spoilers here). We’re really representing the colorful world in which we live in—which is rare [in this genre]. It’s getting better where this issue is concerned, although we still have a long way to go.

Having said that, I do hope that people see themselves in each of the characters. I hope they see the humanity lying underneath its story, so people are left with feelings of hope.
[At the end of the day,] hope is all we have. Regardless of the difficult things we go through, it’s important to hold on to hope every single day.

After winning two Oscars, did you feel like you had to keep upping the ante?

It’s such a good question, and I’m glad I can share [how I feel about] this with you. When you want to be a storyteller or actor, you need to be able to connect to humans and their vast stories—which make us different from and similar to each other at the same time.

When an Academy Award entered my life, it wasn’t something that I expected in my head. When you receive them, it’s like you have to get back down to basics because you feel everyone is expecting so much from you. It’s a lot of pressure.

So, you have to say, “Oh, you know what? Don’t forget why I’m doing this—it isn’t for that.” It’s really hard to live up to expectations, so all you have to do is to keep trying your best, work as hard as you can, and always strive to be better. Accept that it’s not always going to work, you know?

Clint Eastwood, who directed “Million Dollar Baby,” said it so well: “You always aim for the bull’s-eye, but you don’t always hit it.” You just have to continue finding stories that ignite you as an artist or inspire you as a human being. If it works, that’s great. But if it doesn’t, at least you haven’t sacrificed your heart along the way.