Hilary Swank went horse riding in between film scenes

Hilary Swank was so committed to becoming an accomplished horsewoman on the set of her new movie, she would take off between scenes and disappear for hours at a time.

Her The Homesman co-star and director Tommy Lee Jones was impressed with the double Oscar winner's dedication, but he did not like having to wait for Swank to be "wrangled".

He says, "She didn't know about riding horses or driving a team of mules when she signed up for this but she worked at it until she was able to make a very convincing picture.

"Between takes Hilary would take off. It got to the point where I had to send a wrangler with a radio on his belt to make sure she didn't fall off a canyon somewhere, or have a wreck and not know when to come back!"

Swank adds, "You talk about horse wranglers, they had a Hilary wrangler!"