Swank's weight woes for conviction

Hilary Swank struggled to gain weight for her role in new movie Conviction and forced herself to eat food even when she was full in order to bulk up.

The Million Dollar Baby star plays an unemployed single mother who earns a law degree so she can represent her brother in court in the film.

Swank was required to put on 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) for her part - but she found it hard work eating enough food to build up her svelte frame, and even gave up her regular workouts.

She tells New York Post newspaper columnist Cindy Adams, "I personally have difficulty keeping weight on, and for this role I had to add 15 pounds. My character, a single mom, hadn't any opportunity to stay fit.

"For my own needs, I like working out. But to gain weight I stopped that. Besides, this was an independent film. Small budget. We filmed long hours, long days. No time to work out.

"Normally I only eat until I'm full. On this shoot, I kept eating more. Even when I was full, I'd eat more. With nowhere to go, the weight stays on you."