Fashion Wire Daily - New York - With her upswept hair and wearing a teal Grecian gown, Hilary Swank gracefully landed on the red carpet of her new biopic "Amelia" on Tuesday evening, Oct. 20, in New York. It was appropriate that she look so sophisticated and sleek, for as one of the 21st century's most famous women, Swank had big shoes to fill, as she plays aviatrix Amelia Earhart in the film, one of the 20th century's iconic individuals.

It was Earhart's individuality that drew the two-time Academy Award-winning actress to the project, as Swank explained at an earlier press conference.

"Amelia lived her life the way she wanted to live it. She made no apologies for saying, 'This is my life and this is how I see it and this is how I want it to be done,'" Swank said. "Her story was certainly a reminder for me to live life, and that you have to constantly look within and continue to live the life that you know you want to live, for yourself and not for other people."

Richard Gere and his wife Carey Lowell joined Swank at the premiere. Gere stars as Amelia's longtime promoter and eventual husband George P. Putnam. Ewan McGregor, who plays pilot Gene Vidal in the flim and who eventually became Amelia's lover, brought his real-life wife Eve Mavrakis to the party. And British actor Joe Anderson, who plays an alcoholic pilot in the Mira Nair movie, squired his wife Elle.

Actually, it was a family affair on the red carpet and at the after party as Mariska Hargitay and hubbie Peter Hermann made the scene, along with Harry Connick, Jr. and his wife Jill Goodacre, as well as director Ang Lee and his wife Janet Lin.

Surrounded by period costumes and props at the after party, attendees might have felt as if they were transported back to the 1920's and 1930's, when Earhart's exploits enthralled the world. Certainly Swank felt that, as she explained earlier.

"I feel that my life's just richer walking around with Amelia in my heart. She's right in there, and it's wonderful."