Last November, the currently off-the-radar Hilary Swank appeared on Oprah and proved just how much holier she is than drug-addled Swank'd victim Chad Lowe by cutting off nine inches of her hair for cancer research. Claiming she'd "been growing her locks long so she could donate them to a cancer sufferer, 'knowing that it would go to a woman in need,'" Swank's return to the short hair style that won her an Oscar was clearly a charitable and warm-hearted gesture. But after seeing these photos of Swank taken over the weekend, in which the Oprah-styled chin-grazing look has been replaced by a very Brandon Teena-like cropped cut, we realised the sacrificial gesture will also benefit another worthy cause: the Hilary Swank Oscar-Baiting Campaign! How Swank is saving both cancer victims and her career, plus a closer look at her return to he-she hair, after the jump.

As Var reported back in February, Swank is co-producing and starring as Amelia Earhart, first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic, in Mira Nair's Amelia. Filming began in Toronto two months ago, and despite both Cinemablend and Cinematical expressing their disapproval of Swank's appearance in stills released from the set, we doubt Swank cares very much whether or not she looks like "a total mess," "Corky from Life Goes On," or "a very special person." [Ed. Note — Way to take the high road there, CinemaBlend. Retard jokes? Really?] After all, as the Hiller-Pierson Correlation taught us, Uglification + biopic + strong female role = Oscar gold.

[Photo credits: Splash, Cinemablend]

• WHO DOES HILARY SWANK LOOK LIKE WITH THIS NEW HAIRCUT? [Janet Charlton's Hollywood]

Tags: amelia | boys don't cry | chad lowe | hilary swank | mira nair | oprah winfrey | oscar-baiting | splash news | swank'd again