 Hilary Swank (qv) won the lead role of Brandon/Teena after  hundreds of other actresses had been considered and rejected over  the course of three years. She told director Kimberly Peirce (qv)  that, like her character, she was also 21 and came from Lincoln,  Nebraska. But she was fibbing, and when Pierce later confronted her  with the lies, she responded, "But thats what Brandon would do."