1997–1999: Film debut and critical acclaim

In 1995, at the age of 15, Swain was chosen out of 2,500 girls to play the title role of Dolores "Lolita" Haze in Adrian Lyne's controversial screen adaptation of the 1955 novel, Lolita.^[2] Released in 1997, the film earned positive reviews from critics, with New York Magazine calling it "superior" to the Stanley Kubrick version from 1962,^[3] and Caryn James of The New York Times writing that Swain's performance was "extraordinary," adding:

She is within sight of womanhood yet remains, definitely, a schoolgirl ... Ms. Swain walks this incredibly narrow line between innocent playfulness and adult knowledge without a misstep.^[4]

That same year, Swain appeared as John Travolta's rebellious teenage daughter, Jamie, in John Woo's commercially successful action thriller Face/Off,^[5] with a positive review from Entertainment Weekly highlighting her chemistry with Travolta.^[6] Next, she headlined the 1998 drama Girl, in which she portrayed a high-schooler determined to lose her virginity. Writing for Variety, critic David Stratton called it a "well-cast, modestly effective pic" with "a bright, intelligent performance" by Swain.^[7]

Speaking of finding it hard to secure roles in the wake of Lolita, a matter she attributed to typecasting, Swain later commented, "I turned down stuff specifically because of nudity, because it doesn't take a whole lot of class to yank your clothes off ... I had a body double in Lolita [so] I think the goal was 'Let's see what she really looks like.' They were sending me scripts with no substance to them."^[2]

2000–2006: Independent films

Swain had prominent roles in various independent films throughout the early 2000s—The Smokers, Intern, Pumpkin, New Best Friend—and worked on three occasions with Brad Renfro—Happy Campers, Tart, The Job—prior to his death.^[8] In 2006, she starred as aspiring dancer Lori Gunderson in Totally Awesome, a parody of 1980s teen movies.^[9] Next, she played the supporting role of Susan Hartunian in Alpha Dog, the closing night film at that year's Sundance Film Festival.^[10] A crime drama based on the murder of Nicholas Markowitz, Swain's character was inspired by Natasha Adams-Young, a key figure in the real case who was granted legal immunity in exchange for her testimony in court.^[11]

2007–present: Genre films and television work

In 2007, Swain headlined the supernatural horror film Dead Mary, which Fangoria felt was successful in setting itself apart from other entries in the genre.^[12] She received praise for her performance in the 2010 thriller Road to Nowhere,^[13] which Kevin Thomas described as a "stylish, shimmering neo-noir" in his review for the Los Angeles Times.^[14]

Following lead roles in the straight-to-video action films The Girl from the Naked Eye, Nazis at the Center of the Earth, Skin Traffik, and Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre, Swain starred in the 2016 thriller The Wrong Roommate; her first of several appearances in the Wrong... series, an anthological group of Lifetime television films.^[15]

Film

Television

Music Videos