Getting fired from a role on "Beverly Hills, 90210" in 1998 was initially devastating for actress Hilary Swank, but she later viewed it as a pivotal moment that led to her breakthrough.
Swank, now 51, played Carly Reynolds for 16 episodes during the show's eighth season. She recounted the experience on "The Conan O'Brien Show" in 2014, noting that the series had lost significant viewership after the departure of Luke Perry and that she felt dismissed from a show nobody was watching. "I was on 90210 in the eighth season when no one watched it anymore, and Luke Perry was long gone," Swank explained. "So I was fired off the show at that point."
Two months after her dismissal from the teen drama, Swank landed the lead role in "Boys Don't Cry," a performance that would earn her an Academy Award for Best Actress at age 25. "I looked at it as a silver lining," she said. "Like, it's always such a reminder, when something bad happens, there's something else that could be looming around the corner."
During her time on "90210," Swank portrayed Carly, a single mother and Peach Pit server who was involved with Ian Ziering's character, Steve Sanders.
Swank's career trajectory has been marked by significant roles and personal sacrifices. Before her Hollywood success, she lived in a trailer park in Bellingham, Washington, with her family. After moving to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue acting, they experienced periods of homelessness, living in their car before finding more stable housing. Swank recounted their early days, stating, "In LA, my mother and I first lived in her Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme on quiet residential streets."
She eventually signed with a talent agent and treated auditions as informal acting classes. Her early film break came with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in 1992, followed by "The Next Karate Kid" in 1994. Her Oscar win for "Boys Don't Cry" was followed by a second Academy Award for "Million Dollar Baby" six years later.
Swank has also taken breaks from acting to focus on her personal life. She previously took three years off to care for her father after he underwent a lung transplant. In 2023, at age 48, she welcomed twins, Aya and Ohm, with her husband Philip Schneider.
Earlier this year, "90210" co-star Tori Spelling recalled Swank's reaction to being fired. Spelling, who played Donna Martin, said on the "90210MG" podcast that Swank was "hysterically crying" after being informed of the decision by the show's producer. "She was like, 'Oh my God – if I get fired off of 90210, I'm never gonna make it,'" Spelling recalled Swank's fear of a derailed career, though she noted her memory of the exact wording might not be verbatim.
