NEW YORK - While training for the boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby," Hilary Swank was nearly TKO'd - by a foot infection.
Swank, nominated for a best-actress Oscar for her performance in the Clint Eastwood-directed film, says a blister on her foot nearly led to her downfall.
After popping the blister, Swank continued her rigorous workouts. But soon she was in intense pain and knew something was wrong.
"I couldn't believe the pain," the 30-year-old actress says in an interview to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes" newsmagazine. "It was unbelievable and I looked down, there were streaks going to my foot.
"So, I went to the doctor's that second and he looked at me and he said, 'This is really serious. And if you would have waited two more hours, you would have been in the hospital for three weeks - and if it gets to your heart, that's it.'"
Swank says she was diagnosed with a bacterial infection but never told Eastwood, also her co-star in the movie, because it wouldn't have been in character.
Instead, she took several days of medicated rest and then returned to the ring.
"I didn't tell Clint," she says. "The producers don't know... because in the end, that's what happens to boxers: They get blisters, they get infected. They have injuries, and they keep pushing through it."
Swank won an Oscar in 2000 for "Boys Don't Cry."
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BERLIN (AP) - German actress Franka Potente, Chinese actress Bai Ling and French fashion designer Nino Cerruti will be among those choosing the winner of the Golden Bear top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival next month.
Their names were announced Thursday by organizers of the event, which will be Feb. 10-20. Roland Emmerich, director of "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow," will head the jury.
Among the 21 contenders for the top prize are Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou"; "Kinsey," about American sex researcher Alfred C. Kinsey; and "Paradise Now," a Dutch-German-French co-production that follows 28 hours in the lives of two Palestinian suicide bombers.
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LONDON (AP) - The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens will headline a fund-raising concert in Indonesia for victims of the Asian tsunami.
Yusuf Islam will have top billing at Monday's concert in Jakarta that will raise money for victims from Indonesia's Aceh province, according to his Web site.
Islam has composed a new song, "Indian Ocean," and recently recorded it with musicians including A.R. Rahman, Magne Furuholmen and Neil Primrose. The song will be released in February to raise money for children orphaned by the Dec. 26 disaster.
"Like everyone else, I was so shaken by the enormity of this human tragedy, and the song just came without effort," the 56-year-old singer said in the statement.
The track includes the use of instruments, which Islam has avoided since embracing Islam, but he cautioned: "It's not a return to Cat Stevens, I see it more as a natural response to express my concern as a Muslim and as an artist; I believe both can exist side by side particularly when the cause is right."
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - Eddy Grant wants to use his music to help victims of floods that killed at least six people and displaced thousands of residents in his native Guyana.
Grant, best known for the '80s hit "Electric Avenue," plans to donate proceeds from upcoming music projects to relief efforts in the South American country, the singer's spokeswoman, Josanne Leonard, said Wednesday.
One year of artist royalties from Grant's upcoming album, "Reparation," will go to relief efforts, as well as half the proceeds from the sale of four Grant commemorative stamps.
More than 40 inches of rain have fallen in Guyana since Dec. 26, including more than 27 inches in January. Rainfall during the month usually averages 8 inches.
Rains have stopped and flood waters are receding in the capital of Georgetown, but other coastal towns are still in knee-deep water, and doctors are treating hundreds of people for skin rashes, diarrhea and other ailments related to the floods.
The 56-year-old singer, who lives in Barbados, also will donate all profits from the sale of the DVD "The Plaisance-Sparendaam Tribute to Eddy Grant," which will be released shortly and features performances by Grant and speeches by Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A benefit concert by country, gospel and contemporary Christian artists to help victims of the Asian tsunami raised more than $50,000.
Christian pop star Michael W. Smith and country singer Kathy Mattea hosted Wednesday's event - "An Evening for Restoration: Music City Comes Together for Tsunami Relief" - at Belmont University.
Performers included Steven Curtis Chapman, Marty Roe of Diamond Rio, CeCe Winans, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Steve Cropper, the Oak Ridge Boys, Kirk Whalum, tobyMac, Crystal Gayle, MercyMe, Lee Greenwood, The Whites, Raul Malo, The Crabb Family, Dr. Bobby Jones, Michael Martin Murphey, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and several Grand Ole Opry stars.
Proceeds went to the international relief agency World Vision, which is working in the stricken southern Asian region, concert organizers said Thursday.
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