Hilary Swank, sporting a new shorter haircut, got choked up when she accepted an award for her role in the movie "Freedom Writers" at the Time For Peace Awards on Thursday, Nov. 8th.

The Oscar winner has supported a variety of charitable and social-justice causes throughout her career, and was said to be holding back tears when the film's director, Richard LaGravenese, presented the award to her at the award ceremony in Bel Air, California.

In "Freedom Writers," Swank plays a teacher who encourages her class of at-risk students to write and continue their education.

Swank's next screen role is designed to induce tears in the audience, not in the star: the movie is "P.S. I Love You, in which she plays a woman who gets messages from her dead husband.