He had been interested in film since childhood, remembering "his sister ... taking him to see an early Brando movie, On the Waterfront, at the age of five".
Swaim quickly joined, though he also obtained a "second night job as a bellman at the Continental Hyatt House" in order to pay for the rest of the expenses.
He met an agent while performing at the theater who set him up for his early film roles, in both Heroes and The Big Fix.
Before leaving the theater for film, he starred in two other plays in 1975 though 1976, Hat Full of Rain and The Death of Bessie Smith.
[1] After starring in Heroes, Swaim returned to theatre for a short time, before auditioning for a role as co-star in a new NBC television series produced by Jack Webb, Project U.F.O.