Hilary Swank on Emma Green: ‘I love her drive, I love her passion’
The actor talks to Georgia Humphreys about the new Netflix series, Away, which sees her character lead a daring mission to Mars
It was only as Hilary Swank began her gruelling preparation for new Netflix series, Away, that she realised she has major claustrophobia.
The Nebraska-born actress, 46, takes on the lead role, Emma Green, who we see embarking on a treacherous mission to Mars in command of an international crew, leaving her husband and daughter behind for a year.
And Swank discovered there were plenty of challenges that come with playing an astronaut.
“When I put on my spacesuit, I almost passed out,” says the star, who is known for films such as P.S. I Love You and Million Dollar Baby.
“So, that was definitely a great physical obstacle that I had to overcome as a person in order to play this character.”
Meanwhile, the cast also had training to help them understand how it feels to be in zero gravity, she adds.
“We had to be hung by our hips like a pendulum, so we had to have really strong abs and glutes in order to hold us in that position and make it look effortless.”
Loosely inspired by an Esquire article about astronaut Scott Kelly, written by Chris Jones, Away – created by Andrew Hinderaker – is an epic series about love, hope and humanity.
“I love Emma Green,” Swank says when asked what drew her to the character. “I love her drive, I love her passion, I love how she perseveres through adversity.
“I love that she is vulnerable. I love that she is a leader that cares immensely about the people that she works with and their wellbeing and I love that she is a mother and that being a mother is as important to her as her mission to Mars.”
Swank was just a child when she decided she wanted to be an actress – and, aged 14, her mum moved the two of them to LA.
In the late 80s and early 90s, she starred in various TV movies and series, before her
big break came in 1999: the film Boys Don’t Cry, which earned her an Academy Award (she won another one in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby).
She is now “selective” about the projects she takes on.
“It’s got to be something like really special to take me out of the environment that I love.
“I really love all the other things I’m working on now, I also have a production company, I have my clothing line, Mission Statement, that I work really hard on building.”
She also took a three-year screen break to look after her father Stephen, a former chief master sergeant in the Oregon air national guard, after he underwent a life-saving lung transplant in 2014.
The decision to be his livein carer was actually an experience Swank could draw on for the role of Emma, a character who we see having to make some big sacrifices.
“Emma has this moment where her husband has an emergency and she has to make a decision of whether she goes and helps him or continues on her mission,” says Swank.
“It’s similar, but obviously different, because I’m on this path of being an actor and I’m well into living it, 29 years later, but my dad had to get a lung transplant and he didn’t have anyone to help him through that.
“I was in this blessed position that I could take the time off of work and help my dad and be his health advocate – and what was supposed to be one year quickly became two then quickly became three.
“Just being in that position to be able to help him was like a no-brainer to me. There was no other choice for me.”
If she was in Emma’s situation, would Swank – who’s married to entrepreneur Philip Schneider – be able to leave her own family for the greater good?
“You know, I think if you are as passionate about something as Emma is about going to Mars – yes.
“It’s all circumstantial. But you can see the great wear and worry that it puts on her, going on that mission and making that decision and having to live with that every day; she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if something bad happened.”
Swank had the opportunity to “pick the brains” of astronauts on the International Space Station, and people in mission control, ahead of being on set.
“They were so generous with their answers and their willingness to share their life experiences,” she says.
She found it useful research for the shoot, which she says was intense – particularly because the pace of doing a TV show compared to doing a movie is “very different”.
“I was working all night, after I’d get off the set and then all weekend, trying to memorise lines.”
But she managed to find ways to help her relax during the filming process.
“I really connect back and recharge when I’m in nature. We were filming in a beautiful part of the Pacific north-west, and it was just green and lush, so I would usually go memorise my lines and do my script work while walking out on trails.”
● Away launches on Netflix on Friday, September 4
“I really connect back and recharge when I’m in nature”