Fashion Wire Daily NY - "I was petrified but I thought, this is for a magazine, and if I don't do the jump it'll be 'Hilary the Loser.' So I had to," said an animated Hilary Swank at an intimate dinner hosted by Marie Claire magazine last night. What she did was agree to be featured in Marie Claire's July 'Celebrity Challenge', where a female celeb is given a gritty assignment. Hilary's escapade was particularly plucky: she agreed to an audition with acrobats extraordinaires, Cirque Du Soleil.
So how was it hanging from a trapeze - secured by only a bungee cord - and waiting to drop 50ft to the ground?
"I always wanted to join the circus," Swank said, "so it was an incredible experience, but it took me a few moments."
The dinner, at New York's elegant East side French restaurant La Grenouille, was hosted by Marie Claire's super-stylish Prada clad editor-in-chief, Lesley Jane Seymour.
"Hilary's challenge was one of the best," Seymour told FWD. "We get so bad at Marie Claire. There was one girl we wanted to send rock climbing and I said I want THE Tom Cruise shot, you know hanging off the top of the cliff by one hand, and then it'll be 'Wheeeee, where did she go?,' It's a section that we, the person involved and our readers all love."
The 26 guests -- who included Hilary's husband Chad Lowe and close friends, Kim Pierce, director of 'Boys Don't Cry', Marie Claire's lively publisher Katherine Rizzuto and fashion editors Lucy Sykes and Kate Dimmock, Page Six's Richard Johnson, and a select group of PR execs from Chanel, Prada and Calvin Klein -- met for champagne before being seated in an upstairs private room.
There was a distinct Cirque Du Soleil touch to the evening. The table, designed by Anthony Todd, was a stunning mix of red, white and black covered seats, and stacked clear tiers holding water, floating candles and fresh flowers. Music from Cirque played gently in the background. The menu -- mushroom ravioli, steamed sea bass with asparagus, and sorbet to cap it all off -- was as delectable as the setting.
During the toast, Swank thanked Marie Claire for her experience, and for the evening. "First of all I've never had a dinner in my honor, so this is wonderful," she said, to which hubby Chad sweetly rejoindered, "Every evening we eat is in your honor."
Throughout the night, Swank lit up the room with her humor. At one point she spotted a certain Chanel dress she'd had her eye on, worn by Marie Claire Market Editor Kate Dimmock. Accosting a Chanel PR exec in mock diva form, Swank spat her sip of win back into her glass and said, "You said you've save that dress for me. Get that off her now!" Swank then sauntered over to Kate and tried to negotiate a dress exchange - all in good fun of course (though we bet one of those dresses is in the mail to the superstar already).
