Hilary Swank Had a Death Scare While Filming Her Oscar-Winning Film ‘Million Dollar Baby’

Actor Hilary Swank was widely recognized for her award-winning performance in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby. But while filming she once experienced an illness that almost became more severe than she initially realized.

How Hilary Swank had a death scare while filming ‘Million Dollar Baby’

Million Dollar Baby remains one of actor Hilary Swank’s most coveted roles. It won Swanks her second Academy Award, having previous won one for the film Boys Don’t Cry. But Million Dollar Baby wasn’t her easiest film to get into, as the feature saw Swank pushing herself to her limits both mentally and physically. This was necessary since Swank was playing a boxer in the movie, and needed to adjust her body to the film’s demands.

But although that type of training could be hard on the body, Swank found herself experiencing the wrong kind of pain. And the source of it wasn’t her new workout regimen.

“I was about halfway through my training when I got a blister…the size of my palm on the ball of my foot. And it was my front foot, the one I have to pivot on. …So, I popped it. …I popped it myself. I didn’t let it pop on its own, whatever. I popped it on its own. And I did it in the bathtub,” she once told CBS News.

Attempting to pop the blister, however, only made things worse for the actor. That was when she was told she had a staph infection that could’ve turned fatal.

“I couldn’t believe the pain,” she said. “It was — unbelievable. And I looked down…there were streaks going up my foot. So, I went to the doctor that second. And he looked at me, and he said, ‘This is really serious. And if you would have waited two more hours, you would have been in the hospital for three weeks.’ And if it gets to your heart, that’s it.”

Hilary Swank didn’t tell Clint Eastwood about her near death experience

There were a couple of reasons why Swank was excited to do Million Dollar Baby. She saw the film’s potential as soon as she read the script.

“It was one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. Paul Haggis, who adapted the stories, did an amazing job. I laughed and I cried and I was inspired,” she once said in an interview with Emanuel Levy.

But Eastwood directing the project was also a main motivator for her being involved in the project.

“When I heard that he was interested in me, I about fell off my chair, because Clint has been making movies longer than I’ve been alive. I’ve grown up watching his movies and have been inspired by this man,” she said. “So when I first met him, I was really struck speechless, which is pretty hard for me. Clint is actually the first person that ever made me blush. I turned as red as an apple, but then, instantly, I felt really at ease. He just puts you at ease.”

But as comfortable as she became around the filmmaker, Swank refused to tell the Unforgiven actor about her infection.

“He still to this day doesn’t know,” she said. “The producers don’t know. No one knows…except my trainers…because, in the end, that’s what happens to boxers.”

Hilary Swank put on 19 pounds of muscle for ‘Million Dollar Baby’

Although Swank’s training put her life at risk, it had phenomenal benefits for her body. To get a believable physique for the role, Swank spent the majority of her days training with little time off.

“My training was two and a half hours of boxing and approximately an hour and a half to two hours lifting weights every day, six days a week,” Swank once told MovieWeb.

She also had to eat frequently, consuming food every hour and a half for the 210 grams of protein she needed daily. In the end, the results were massive.

“The producers asked me to gain 10 pounds of muscle,” she said. “I gained 19 pounds of muscle. I started at 110 and went to 129.”