Art imitated life for Conviction star Swank

The actress stars in new movie Conviction, the real life tale of Betty Anne Waters who put herself through law school so she could rescue her wrongfully-convicted brother Kenneth from a death sentence.

And Swank reveals the story had extra relevance to her, because a friend had been through the same trauma.

The Oscar winner tells Us Weekly magazine, “I have a friend who was exonerated after 19 years on Death Row. And he came out with no anger.”

And she insists she would do just what her character does in the film if a loved one was ever subjected to the same injustice: “I have an older brother and asked myself, ‘Is this something I could do…?’ I hoped I’d be strong enough.”