Hilary Swank says quitting Hollywood to care for sick dad was a blessing

Hilary Swank says quitting Hollywood to care for her sick dad was a “blessing”.

The Oscar-winning actress walked away from her glittering career in 2014 to move in with her dad Stephen and become his live-in carer after he underwent a lung transplant — and she says the decision to put her family first was an easy one.

She told The Independent newspaper: “[The decision was] not hard at all. In fact, it was a blessing and an honour to be able to do that.

“Not everyone can take the time off to be in that position.”

She initially planned to take a year off but she ended up giving up work for three years, adding of the extension: “That was fine with me. I wanted to be there as long as my dad needed me.”

Hilary’s dad continued to live with her up until his death in 2021. She went on to pick her career back up again and she insisted it wasn’t difficult to get back into acting.

She explained: “I didn’t just have 10 years of a career [behind me], it was 25 years in the business and so I wasn’t really worried about it.”

Hilary, 49, took time off again after becoming mum to twins — Ohm and Aya — with her husband Philip Schneider last year and she says it will take a lot to tempt her back to work again right now.

She added: “Something will have to check all the boxes in order to make me want to be a part of it.”

The actress recently admitted becoming a first-time mum is “way more fun” than she expected, telling New York Post column PageSix: “It’s way more joyful. It’s way more fun, it’s way more exciting than I ever imagined.

“I always thought it would be extraordinary, but it’s way more.”