Hilary Swank, 52, reveals how she kept her pregnancy a secret until she reached her third trimester

Hilary Swank, 52, has revealed how she was able to keep her pregnancy a secret until she was seven months along.

The Oscar-winning actress stunned fans earlier this month when she announced she is expecting her third child with husband Philip Schneider – and now the star has credited the 'respectful' residents of the small town where she lives for keeping her news private.

During an appearance on the Question Everything podcast, she said: 'I live in a very small town. It's a town I grew up in, and everyone there has been so just respectful of my privacy and it hasn't leaked.'

Swank, who owns properties in Bellingham, Washington, and in Telluride, Colorado, added she didn't even have to stay at home or hide her baby bump, adding: 'Clearly, I don't stay at home all the time. I was working up until about 17 weeks pregnant, so no one really knew on set either.'

When asked why she waited until late in her pregnancy to make her baby news public, she replied: 'I'm a pretty private person, and there was no reason to really, I don't know, say anything.'

Swank, who previously welcomed twins, Aya and Ohm, in April 2023 when she was 48, told the world about her second pregnancy in an Instagram post and later opened up about her news during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show.

Speaking about becoming pregnant again later in life, she explained: 'This was the right time for me. Not everything happens in our own time. We have ideas for timelines for ourselves, and getting pregnant isn't always in our own timeline, right?

'You can hope and pray for certain things, and things happen when they're supposed to happen. I was very excited, and it was a good time for me because I feel like I had this career that was a 'baby' of mine that I really wanted to give to and devote my time to and not share.

'And now I can totally devote [myself] to my children.'

Swank previously told PEOPLE magazine she always knew she wanted to be a mother, saying: 'It just worked out that I had babies this much later in life.

'It wasn't that I didn't want them earlier. There were a lot of things that kept that from happening, and so I can really take time to be with them.

'I feel like I get a lot of Mother's Days other than actual Mother's Day because of being able to be so present with them....

'I knew I wanted kids someday, but I wasn't planning what that would look like. I know it's so different for everyone, but for me, if I had had a kid in my 20s or my 30s, I think I'd be a much different parent than I am now.'

Hilary spoke out on her fertility journey last year in an interview with Women's Health, explaining that she froze her eggs at the age of 37, before becoming pregnant with twins aged 47.

'I would have had kids earlier. I'm not saying I actively waited until 47,' she said at the time. 'But that was a magical time in my life, when it all culminated. It was the right time for myriad reasons.'

She said that having 'the ability to freeze my eggs for later' was one of the most important things she has ever done to prepare for the possibility of being a mum, pointing out 'it takes some of the pressure off.' 

She also explained how she was thankful to be an older mum, and doesn't think she would have been the same parent as a younger woman.

'I'm a very different parent than I would've been, even in my early 40s,' she told the magazine. 

'I'm much more patient. I'm much more understanding. I am much more, I think, interested in a different way than I would've been.'

'I'm really interested in their brains. I'm fascinated about what makes them tick. And I have my career that's already established, so I'm not divided.' 

'I'm able to really sink in and be present with them and be a hands-on parent.'

Hilary won the best actress Academy Award in 2005 for her performance in Clint Eastwood's critically acclaimed boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, which amassed $216.8million at the box office.

She and her 'social venture entrepreneur' husband wed in 2018 after meeting on a blind date in November 2016 – five months after she ended her three-month engagement to former tennis pro Ruben Torres.

The actress took to Instagram on Wednesday to post a cute video with the caption: 'A lot of people have been asking what project I’m doing next, this one releases in December.'

She made her pregnancy announcement by participating in the TikTok dance trend of taping neon glowsticks onto dark clothing to create a glowing stick-figure.

Her husband Philip and their two children could be seen participating when the surprise was revealed as there was a small glowstick figure over her belly to reveal the pregnancy.