10 More Actors Who Prepared For Roles In The Worst Possible Way

6. Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby

The Fall Jamie Dornan
Warner Bros.

Hilary Swank prepared for her role in Million Dollar Baby in a way that almost cost the actress her life.

In order to get ready for her role of underdog amateur boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood's 2004 picture, Swank gained 19 lbs of solid muscle after spending five hours a day, six days a week in the gym for three months.

The actress became so engulfed in her training, she didn't initially notice that a large blister had burst on her foot. Once Hilary did notice this burst blister, she held off informing Eastwood as she didn't believe that was something her character would've done.

Scarily, the reality of this situation is that Swank so nearly found herself in a life-threatening position. After finally letting a doctor check her out, it was confirmed that the actress had a staph infection that was only hours away from making its way to her heart.

By the time all was said and done, Hilary Swank nabbed herself a Best Actress win at the 2005 Academy Awards - while the Best Director gong would go to Clint Eastwood, the Best Supporting Actor nod would go to Morgan Freeman, and Million Dollar Baby would win Best Picture.

Still, such a crazy, laser-focussed training routine could've ended up with a far different outcome for Swank.

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