Hilary Swank wanted to be an astronaut when she was a child.

The Oscar-winning star , who won her Academy Awards for her roles in 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Million Dollar Baby', has confessed acting was not always her chosen career path and she had wanted to explore space.

She said: "At one point in my life, somewhere around six-years-old, wanted to be an astronaut. But other than that I wanted to become an actor at nine, and I feel more than grateful and more than blessed to actually be a working actor now."

Hilary - who can next been seen playing a young widow who discovers a collection of letters left to her by her late husband in 'P.S. I Love You' - "found her calling" as an actor when she had to write and perform a play at school.

She added: "I had a teacher who asked us to write a skit and perform it in front of the class. I remember standing there at the age of nine and playing all these characters out and loving it and feeling a feeling I had never felt before.

"Now I look back and I realise it's that thing when you find your calling and that moment happens, but then I didn't know what that feeling was. I just love it and I couldn't imagine doing anything else."