London, Oct 5 (IANS) Oscar winning actress Hilary Swank seems set to steal Julia Roberts’ thunder with her new film “Betty Ann Waters”, a legal thriller which will see her playing a lawyer. Thesun.co.uk reports that the movie is based on the true story of a single mother who became a lawyer in a bid to help clear her brother of murder.

Like Julia in “Erin Brockovich”, Swank too will play the title role in “Betty Ann Waters”.

In real life, Waters was a high school dropout who refused to believe brother Kenneth was guilty of the 1983 murder of a Massachusetts woman. He was eventually exonerated and freed in 2001.

Hilary won an Oscar for her performance in “Million Dollar Baby”.