when hilary Swank won her Best
Actress Oscar for Boys Don’t Cry in 2000,
she famously forgot to thank her hus-
band, Chad Lowe—but she also left out
another important factor in her success:
getting fi red from Beverly Hills, 90210.
In 1997, Swank, who had appeared on
Buff y the Vampire Slayer and starred
in The Next Karate Kid, was hired to
play Steve’s love interest in season 8.
But after 16 episodes she was given a
pink slip. “Aaron [Spelling] called me
into his offi ce and said, ‘Hilary, it’s not
working,’ ” Swank told People in 2002. “I
went home and cried all day, weeping.”
Less than two months later she won the
career-defi ning part of Brandon Teena
in Boys Don’t Cry, the true story of a mur-
dered transgender man. “It was a huge
lesson in trusting fate,” Swank said. As
single mother Carly Reynolds, she drew
out the tender side to 90210’s fun-loving
playboy. She and Steve had a rough start
when his dinner date caused her to get
fi red from her job as a waitress. But after
Steve landed Carly a job at the Peach Pit,
he fell hard for her and son Zack, and she
discovered his hidden charm. Though
her tenure on 90210 was short-lived,
Swank, who won a second Academy
Award for 2004 ’s Million Dollar Baby,
made an impression. “I remember say-
ing, after about her third show, ‘I love her,
she has a soul,’ ” Spelling said.
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