The Oscar winner for Best Portrayal of a Corpse actually said this, on national TV, without so much as batting an eyelash:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/02/60II/main677647.shtmlSwank bulked up by 19 pounds and learned to box like a pro. Everyone back at Gleason's was impressed. But she kept a secret from the boxers, and from the filmmakers who hired her.
She had a potentially life-threatening staphylococcus infection. "I got a blister the size of my palm on the ball of my foot," says Swank.
Within 48 hours, the blister was infected, and staph bacteria spread through her veins. "There were streaks going up my foot," recalls Swank. "So, I went to the doctor that second, and he looked at me, and he said, 'This is really serious. And if you had waited two more hours, you would have been in the hospital for three weeks. And if it gets to your heart, that's it.'"
She didn't tell Eastwood what had happened. "I didn't tell Clint, because in the end, that's what happens to boxers," says Swank. "They get blisters, they get infected. They have injuries and they keep pushing through it."This from a woman who just won an Academy Award for her portrayal of -- a boxer who didn't push through it, but instead begged to be killed. I just smacked my palm against my forehead when I heard it. "I can't believe I just heard that!"