The Academy Award-winning actress can do no wrong, in my opinion. Swank is so real and relatable. The actress, a youthful 48, has been at the forefront of the entertainment field for nearly four decades. She is a midwestern girl who has two Academy Awards on her mantlepiece. If you have not seen the critically acclaimed Boys Don't Cry, rent it! The 1999 film was a tour de force for the actress. The script, written by Kimberly Peirce and Andy Bienen and directed by Peirce, was based on the real-life story of an American trans man Brandon Teena from Nebraska (where Swank was born). Teena was the victim of a hate crime--brutally gang raped and murdered in 1993 at just 21 years of age. Swank had the right touch in bringing the character to life, portraying a highly sympathetic presence with a subtly nuanced performance. She received the Oscar in 1999 when she was 25.

The actress struck gold again when she garnered her second Oscar in 2004 for Million Dollar Baby, a film about an amateur woman boxer who reaches her goal of going pro under Clint Eastwood's tutelage as her trainer. Morgan Freeman also had a key role that secured him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Eastwood directed the film written by Paul Haggis. 

Swank made her first acting appearance at 9 years old in "The Jungle Book." Her parents separated early on, but the actress said her mother strongly supported her desire to act when the two of them moved to Los Angeles. After dropping out of Pasadena High School, Swank pursued acting because she was quoted as stating playing characters was the only time she felt she 'fit in.' According to Wikipedia, she claimed, "As a kid, I felt that I belonged only when I read a book or saw a movie and could get involved with a character. It was natural that I became an actor because I longed so much to be those other people, or at least to play them."

And choosing parts with a social message seems to resonate with the star--such as people having the right to be true to their identities, as in Boys Don't Cry, and women in sports should have the same opportunities as men. For an actor of her stature, Swank can be selective with accepting roles--and she chose wisely with her latest project Alaska Daily.

The show focuses on an investigative reporter who relocated to Anchorage, Alaska, after a higher-profile Manhattan career. Her task in a daily metro newspaper is to throw the spotlight on the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous persons in Alaska.

Not enough publicity is extended to the plight of people of color or indigenous when they go missing or are murdered. Anybody, irrespective of their ethnic background, should receive equal coverage in law enforcement's efforts to find and get them home safely. "Alaska Daily" airs Thursdays at 10 pm ET.