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Hilary Swank has transformed herself to play a transgender man in “Boys Don’t Cry” and a boxer in “Million Dollar Baby,” so when it came time to play an astronaut in the upcoming Netflix series “Away,” the Oscar winner welcomed the challenge. It wasn’t always easy. Swank discovered the spacesuit made her claustrophic.
NEW YORK (AP) — Before she went into acting, Hilary Swank was one of those kids who looked up at the sky and dreamed of blasting off to outer space. She got to pretend living out that dream in her new Netflix series, “Away,” debuting Friday, where she plays an astronaut commander leading a voyage to Mars.
“I just love an adventure and I’m a Leo,” said Swank in a recent interview.
Executive produced by Jason Katims, “Away” follows Swank’s character Emma Green and her international crew on this dangerous mission as she leaves behind her husband (played by Josh Charles) and teenage daughter (Talitha Bateman) for three years. It begins airing Friday.
The series shifts back-and-forth between what’s going on in space and back home with her family. Charles juggles health issues while essentially being a single parent. Emma has some personnel issues onboard (prickly personalities, a colleague who may think of her as more than a friend, and a rookie astronaut on her team), but what’s not a factor is that she’s a woman in charge.
“I think it’s pretty darn awesome that’s not the drama of this show. It’s not about ‘Oh, it’s a female commander,'” said Swank.
Swank won an Oscar for her 1999 portrayal of a transgender man in “Boys Don’t Cry” and again for playing a boxer in the 2004 movie, “Million Dollar Baby.” When it came time to play an astronaut, the actor welcomed the challenge.
To mimic floating in zero gravity in space, the cast — Vivian Wu, Ray Panthaki, Mark Ivanir and Atto Essandoh — actually hung from wires.
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