the lady is a vamp; Hilary Swank takes a glamour turn for Guerlain.(Francois-Pascal Guerlain)

Byline: Sarah Brown

Hilary Swank is staring down the lens of photographer Vincent Peters in a cavernous, pitch-black soundstage somewhere in Connecticut. A blast of hurricane-strength wind comes out of nowhere, blowing her honey-

colored goddess hair wildly around her face as if she were standing in the path of a roaring jetliner. Cut to the floor, where hairstylist Kevin Ryan is sprawled (alongside Swank's amiable little dog Karoo), armed with what looks suspiciously like a leaf blower. "It's from the Sharper Image," says the stylist, Kate Young. "It's a leaf blower." Aha.

A far cry from the raw, decidedly unglamorous characters who have garnered the two-time Oscar winner a place on Hollywood's A-list, Swank's role today is that of a seductress, full of danger and intrigue. She is starring in the campaign for Guerlain's latest fragrance, Insolence.

Swank is not the obvious choice for a beauty campaign. She's certainly beautiful, and certainly famous, but unlike some of today's marquee names, Swank is not famous for being famous. She's famous for being talented. Hers is an intelligent beauty, and that's why Guerlain, founded in 1828 by Pierre-

Francois-Pascal Guerlain, chose her.

And if the name of this new ...