|
Born in Bellingham, Washington
State, July 30th, 1974, Hilary was bitten by the acting bug at an early
age. When she was only 9 years old and a mere 48 inches tall, Hilary
starred in her first play as "Mowgli" in "The Jungle Book." After her
"Jungle Book" expierence Hilary knew she had not only found love in acting
but also her perfect avenue of expression. She began to appear regularly
in local theater and school plays.
Hilary resided in Bellingham, along with her family, until she was 16. In
1990, with an ever-growing hunger for a serious film career, armed with
determination, and in hot pursuit of her dreams, she moved to the capitol
of heartbreak and stars, Los Angeles. It wasn't long after Hilary arrived
in L.A. before fate intervened and she landed her first professionally
paid acting job, two lines on "Harry And The Hendersons" (TV Series -
1991).
Hilary's ensuing acting engagements included: appearances on two of
television's highest-rated TV series: "Growing Pains" and "Evening Shade."
Both appearances evolved into recurring roles on both series. She actually
appeared in three episodes of "Growing Pains" and six episodes of "Evening
Shade". In 1992 Hilary landed the regular cast role of Danielle on ABC's
"Camp Wilder" TV series and appeared in 22 episodes. In the interim she
was also cast in the role of Kimberly, Buffy's side-kick in the, 20th
Century Fox, 1992 studio film production of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer."
Shortly following Buffy, Hilary was cast to play the title role of Julie
Pierce in, Columbia Pictures 1994 studio film production of, "The Next
Karate Kid." In the almost five years since "The Next Karate Kid," Hilary
has worked non-stop. Although she enjoys performing supporting or cameo
roles, her career has been characterized by starring in almost everything
she's acted in.
A trained athlete, Hilary has been swimming since she was three years old,
later competing in the Junior Olympics and Washington state championships
for the sport. She was also ranked fifth in her state for the all-around
competition in gymnastics. An aficionado for anything that involves the
outdoors, Hilary enjoys: sky diving, river rafting, and skiing. She
currently resides in Los Angeles with: one dog, 3 cats, and an African
Grey Parrot. She speaks some Italian and is married to film and TV star
Chad Lowe ("Life Goes On" - "Melrose Place" - "ER" - TV Series).
Her most recent project though, is her role in the upcoming film, "The
Affair of the Necklace," coming to theaters in September of 2001. Hilary
can also be seen in 2002's "Insomnia." We have seen great things in the
past from Hilary, including an oscar winning performance in "Boys Don't
Cry," and I'm sure that these next performances will be no different. |
|
[2005 Academy Awards
acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Leading Role] "I don't know
what I did in this life to deserve all this. I'm just a girl from a
trailer park who had a dream. I never thought this would ever
happen, let alone be nominated. And a working actor, for that
matter. And now, this. I thank the Academy. I'm eternally grateful
for this great honor. I would also like to acknowledge my fellow
nominees, Annette, Imelda, Kate, and Catalina, your work inspires me
beyond words. I am going to start by thanking my husband because I'd
like to think I learned from past mistakes. Chad, you're my
everything. Thank you for your support. It means the world. I would
never be standing here if it weren't for the -- each and every one
of the brilliant people I had surrounding me, supporting me and
believing in me. Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, thank you for sending
me this most marvelous script. You will never know how grateful I
am. Paul Haggis, for writing this beautiful script. Our other
producers extraordinaire: Albert S. Ruddy (Al Ruddy), Clint, Rob
Lorenz (Robert Lorenz). Phyllis Huffman, our casting director. My
trainers, Grant Roberts and Hector Roca, you pushed me further than
I ever thought I could push myself up to that last pound, actually
to that last ounce. I thank you. My sparring partners who were so
patient. And everyone at Gleason's. Well, the ever-amazing Morgan
Freeman. Tom Stern, our cinematographer, you are brilliant. Joel
Cox, our editor, you're amazing. You know? I'm going to thank my mom
for believing in me from the beginning. My dad, for his support. My
agents, Josh Lieberman, Tony Lipp, Kelly Tiffan, John Campisi. Jason
Weinberg, my manager (You can't do that. I haven't gotten to Clint
yet! I saved him for the end) Karl Austen (Karl R. Austen), Jeff
Bernstein, my lawyers. And then Clint. Clint Eastwood. Thank you for
allowing me to go on this journey with you. Thank you for believing
in me. You're my "macushla" Thank you. Warner brothers, as well. And
you know what? Wait! Troy Nankin, my best friend and publicist.
Thank you!"
"My most annoying question is 'Hilary, are you ever going to play a
pretty girl?'" quoted in Newsweek.
"I think when you're playing a real character you have an extra
responsibility to do it really right, so because of that, I do
extensive research. I really try and figure out the person inside
and out. I read the lines, but I read in-between the lines and try
and find the qualities in that person that makes them human and I
hopefully try and bring that out in what I do." - on playing Annie
Sullivan
"I cut coupons, love specials and believe in buying toilet paper and
toothpaste in bulk. It's just who I am." quoted in Woman's World -
7-19-05
"I've realized that as an actor you have to just keep working really
hard and studying your craft. I think I thought maybe things would
be easier after the first Academy Award, that I would get better job
opportunities, but then you really realize that there's not a whole
lot of great quality out there, for women especially. It's not just
something that women say; it's the truth. Because of that I had to
be specific about not just doing something that I didn't want to do,
but I also needed to pay my bills. I didn't do job after job after
job. I would do a job and then still keep working on acting, whether
it would be reading a play - something that's inspiring - with a
bunch of actors, hearing it, studying, reading books about acting,
and watching actors. I think it's an ever-evolving craft. And I
think it's something that you always need to work at." - On working
as an actor
"I have to say that I didn't ever really see it as rejection, per
se, and I don't know why. I guess if I saw it as rejection, then I
would allow myself time to focus on something that seemed negative,
instead of realizing, "I have an audition tomorrow," and I was
auditioning a lot, and, "If I focus on why I didn't get that, then
I'm not going to be able to be present and work on this." At that
time it was easier for me to let go of the past and just move on.
Although there were so many times when it didn't mean I didn't get
depressed if I didn't get something that I really wanted. I mean,
I'm human, and I absolutely would get bummed out, especially if I
worked really hard on something, and it came right down to me and
someone else. But I'd try to get feedback. Was there something that
I could have done differently? Was it something I can work on the
future for the next job? And try to gain a positive from it? And
sometimes it wasn't anything I'd done. It was just the blue-eyed
girl looked better with the brown-eyed boy. You can't change that;
you can't control that." - On getting rejected for roles
"You need to study and work on your craft. If you're not prepared
when that dream audition comes, you are not going to get that
opportunity. To me, the definition of success is when opportunity
meets preparation. So I really recommend that actors always work on
their craft and their skills. Obviously you can't make a living
doing that, but you can get a lot of joy from it and learn and be
inspired by the people you're working with and by your teachers and
by the material. As long as you're still being inspired by it,
you're going to find joy. Then hopefully the role will come along. I
just want every actor to know to keep chipping away at it." - On
giving advice to beginning actors.
"At the beginning, it's not like I didn't like boxing. I just didn't
think about boxing, I didn't even really have an opinion about it.
And when I heard about it, I just thought, 'What is the thing about
hitting someone and wanting to get hit?' The whole thing eluded me,
but then, you know what? Like anything else in life, when you have
to dive into something deeper, you gain respect for it because you
learn about it in different ways than you ever would expect. What I
realized when I learned more about boxing is that it is so much more
than just the physical aspect of it. Obviously the physical aspect
of it is huge, but it is such an unbelievably mental challenge.
There's such an art to boxing, it's like a great game of chess. When
you're in the ring, you're one with your opponent. Everything goes
silent and it's you and that person. You hear your breath. You hear
the other person. And as you try to figure out their strength and
weakness, you're learning about your own strength and weaknesses.
And each person that you spar or fight with, their strength and
weakness brings out new strength and weakness in yourself. And the
second you think, 'I have this person,' and get cocky, you can lose
and you usually do. It's a great analogy to life. You have to remain
humble and have respect for the other person." - On Boxing
"As in life, your mind can be the hugest obstacle or tool, depending
on how you choose to use it. And I find that a lot of people who are
successful in life say, "I can do this, and I will do this." Their
minds don't get in their way; whereas people who wake up and say,
"Oh, I can't," their mind is in their way, and it's going to stop
them from doing what they need to do to achieve their dream." - On
trying to achieve your goals.
"I think that if you can grow together, you'll stay together. The
most important qualities in making a relationship work are a blend
of three ingredients: communication, respect and believing in
another person. I've been with my husband for over twelve years.
That's what made our relationship work. We have a mutual respect,
the communication is key and believing in one another makes you feel
like you can do anything!" - On what's important in a relationship. |
