Oh, she’s quite easy to talk to – has lots of insightful things to say and is genuinely pleasant. Of course, she’s also really the ONLY choice to play Amelia Earhart, if you ask me. I’ve mentioned before my childhood crush on the Amelia Earhart, having done about five or six book reports on her. Her life – but mostly, her death – endlessly fascinated me. So, when I heard who was starring as Amelia in the latest biopic, and then saw the trailer, I knew they’d hit the nail right on the head.
I have since seen the movie and even though the biopic itself wasn’t as engaging as I wanted it to be, watching Swank portray the famed “Lady Lindy” felt like I was watching the real deal. I mean, she is a spitting image. And yes, Swank is playing another tomboy type, a determined woman who wants to live her life on her own terms. But damn it, if she doesn’t excel at those roles, which has won her two Academy Awards for her performances in Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby. Is another Oscar nomination on the way as Amelia? Hmmm …
Before talking with Hilary, we sat down with Amelia director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake), who gave this little tidbit about the actress playing this iconic role:
“She imbued everything there was to know about Amelia. The cadence, the cocking the head to her shoulder, the hair, the smile – I would say to her ‘Hil, little less Amelia, please. Don’t give me so much Amelia.’ And she just loved that. But what she really brought, and that I can’t direct, is the adrenaline, is the daredevil. She loves to fly, to go to that place that scares her, and then she has the talent and the craft to meet that fear and make it something.”
That sounds about right. When Swank finally came into the room, she seemed fearless, confident – and definitely gushing about the woman she just played onscreen.
Step 1: Be an inspiration
“That’s what is incredible about this movie to me. I’ve never had such an outpouring of people coming up to me, saying, ‘I cannot WAIT to see your film.” [Um, that would be ME] More so than any other movie I’ve ever done. What a lot of people know about Amelia they learn in textbooks and this iconic image of who she was. But I think people also realize that this was a woman in a time when following your dream was a man’s job, and she is an inspiration to us to continue to follow our calling. To take it even a step further, I think this was a person who made no apologies for living the life she wanted to live. And even if she were living in 2009, she’d still be ahead of our time. I think it’s very challenging to live our lives on the path we want, whether you are a woman OR a man. To me, more than anything, that’s what people are responding to and it’s exciting to see. Especially in the difficult economic times we are living in.”
Step 2: Study the famed aviatrix
“I know exactly to the minute how footage is out there on Amelia – about 16 minutes of newsreel, mostly of her waving. So a lot of her speaking was limited and what we had was her public persona. I found about 45 seconds of when she didn’t know the camera was on, so I got a little bit of insight into the other Amelia. I didn’t want to parody her, but the accent was very specific, the cadence, the way she carried herself. As it is for all of us. If I was playing YOU, for example, I’d want to break down your exact mannerisms. There were big shoes to fill and I really couldn’t take a lot of fictional licenses that I could probably take if I were playing you. It was daunting.”
Step 3: No, REALLY study her
“There were three things – the newsreels, the literature on her and then the firsthand stuff, her letters and correspondence between loved ones. But I tell you, she was such a private person, as you see, that getting to know what she felt was something you had to read between the lines. Studying her childhood because I think our childhood makes up a lot of who we are and how we carry ourselves in the world. The gifts her parents gave her, her dad encouraging her to explore the world and her sister pushing education.”
Step 4: Then find some surprises
“I didn’t recognize truly how unapologetically [sic] she lived her life. I found it quite remarkable, and at the same time, she wasn’t threatening to people. She didn’t say, ‘Screw you all!’ and leave a bunch of people behind. She really cared about people. The more I read, the more endearing she became. She was a very prolific writer. She was writing poetry at the age of 5! She was definitely someone I wished I could have met and talked to.”
Step 5: Is Amelia stuck on the Lost island?
“I do believe she ran out of fuel. I know there are a lot of different ideas about what happened. Was she kidnapped by the Japanese or stranded on an island? Believe me, during my press, a lot of people say, ‘I really don’t think that’s how you should have ended the movie.’ And I appreciate that there could have been a lot of different ways. Maybe if the movie is successful, we’ll pretend she DID land and do a sequel.”
Step 6: Don’t let anyone stand in your way
“I had one teacher who asked me when was I going to give up my hobby. Look, everyone is going to have an opinion. It’s obviously difficult when you are pursuing your dream and have people trying to dissuade you. I was also told one time I was too ‘half-hour’ when I was trying to get into drama. Some of them – neither of those – can be constructive. The other stuff is silly. You have to learn to decipher what’s constructive, that you can take in and incorporate to be a better actor. As actors, we really do where our hearts on our sleeves, so it’s easy to have that stuff thrown at you be upsetting.”
Step 7: Finally, learn to fly
“I did learn how to fly. You CANNOT play Amelia Earhart and not learn how to fly. And it was just as exhilarating and freeing and exciting as she writes about.”
Step 8: So you get it.
“I totally get it.”
