Hilary Swank Gets Candid About Patriarchy In Hollywood

The actor opened up about what it was like when her career first skyrocketed after starring in the 1999 crime romance “Boys Don’t Cry.”

Hilary Swank is reflecting on the hurdles she faced as a young Hollywood star in a male-dominated field.

In a new interview with Women’s Health, the actor, 50, got candid about how Hollywood “was more patriarchal than ever” when her career first skyrocketed after starring as transgender man in the 1999 crime romance “Boys Don’t Cry.” Swank, who earned her first Oscar win from the film, said at the time that many of the female roles were written by male execs who couldn’t “necessarily” capture the “female point of view.”

“Thankfully, it’s becoming more inclusive. But when I started, it was more patriarchal than ever. And so I was playing roles that were written by men from what a female point of view is, and it wasn’t necessarily true,” she explained.

Swank added: “It’s not that I don’t like being feminine — I just don’t like being told how to be feminine.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the double Oscar-winner, who starred in “Boys Don’t Cry” at age 25, dished out some advice she would have given her younger self.