Oscar Profile #262: Tilda Swinton

Born November 5, 1960 to Judith Balfor and the now 90-year-old Major-General Sir John Swinton, Katherine Mathilda Swinton can trace her distinguished lineage back to before the 11th Century Norman Conquest.

Educated in three schools, she was a classmate and friend of Princess Diana. After a break to do volunteer work in Kenya, she graduated from New Hall at the University of Cambridge in 1983 with a degree in Social and Political Sciences. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984 but left a year later as her tastes took a dramatic turn toward the obscure. She made her film debut in Derek Jarman’s 1986 film, Caravaggio. She lived with the film’s gay experimental director until his death from AIDS in 1994, having been a profound influence on most of his films.

Swinton made a name for herself as the star of Sally Potter’s 1992 film, Orlando based on the Virginia Woolf novel, in which she played a young nobleman who becomes a woman and lives for 400 years. For the remainder of the decade she continued to appear in off-center films such as Love Is the Devil and The War Zone, finally making her first Hollywood film, The Beach in support of Leonardo DiCaprio in 2000. She had taken time off in 1997 to give birth to twins with partner John Byrne.

The actress had her first acclaimed mainstream role in 2001’s The Deep End for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. She became a household name with her portrayal of the White Witch in the 2005 film version of the family classic, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Two years later she won an Oscar for her villainous corporate spokesperson in 2007’s Michael Clayton in support of George Clooney. All of her roles since have been high profile.

Although Swinton has not received Oscar recognition since Michael Clayton, she has often been in the conversation for such diverse films as 2009’s Julia, 2010’s I Am Love, 2012’s We Have to Talk About Kevin and 2014’s Only Lovers Left Alive and Snowpiercer, all of which have earned her awards recognition form other bodies all over the world.

Swinton’s connection to a film, any film, means we’re in for a treat whether she is the star of the film or part of an ensemble. Some of her most memorable performances can be found in her ensemble work in such films as 2002’s Adaptation, 2005’s Broken Flowers, 2008’s Burn After Reading, 2009’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom, 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and 2015’s Trainwreck. She’ll soon be seen as Hedda Hopper in the Coen Brothers’ send-up of 1950s Hollywood in Hail, Caesar! along with Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Scarlett Johanssen and Channing Tatum.

Tilda Swinton lives with German/New Zealand painter Sandro Kopp, her partner since 2004, and her twins Honor and Xavier Swinton Byrne in the Highland region of Scotland. Byrne lives with his partner Jeanine Davis in Edinburgh. She shows no signs of slowing down at 55.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

THE DEEP END (2001), directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel

Swinton received the first of her three Golden Globe nominations to date for her unforgettable portrait of a mother who use any means possible to keep her son from harm. Based on Elisabeth Sanxay Holding’s novel, The Blank Wall, previously filmed in 1949 as The Reckless Moment, Swinton has the role played by Joan Bennett in the earlier version opposite James Mason. Goran Visnjic has that role this time around with Jonathan Tucker as the son in this taut thriller.

JULIA (2009), directed by Erick Zoncka

Swinton received numerous Best Actress awards and nominations for her portrayal of the newly unemployed alcoholic who becomes involved in a plot to kidnap a ten-year-old Mexican boy from his drug lord grandfather. At first agreeable to the plan concocted by the boy’s mother, she rebels when she learns the mother has no money, but later feels compassion for the boy and joins him on the run from gangsters. Among Swinton’s awards recognition was runner-up to Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (2014), directed by Jim Jarmusch

Swinton once again received awards recognition for her long-lived vampire in Jarmusch’s sad and compelling, if muted horror film. Tim Hiddleston is equally fine as her husband and lover across several centuries and Mia Wasikowska all but steals the film as Swinton’s love-wire younger sister. The two women, in fact, chased the same year-end awards thanks to their amazing performances. Supporting players Anton Yelchin, John Hurt and Jeffrey Wright add to the fun.

SNOWPIERCER (2014), directed by Joon Ho Bong

The Snowpiercer is a train travels around the globe with the survivors of a failed climate change experiment. Chris Evans and Jamie Bell had the leads with Kang-ho Song, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer and Tidla Swinton in support. While all the actors have their moments, all eyes are on Swinton as a nasty overseer whenever she appears with her big glasses and oversized teeth. Once again it was she who took the lion’s share of year’s end nominations and awards for the film with her assured performance.

TRAINWRECK (2015), directed by Judd Apatow

Swinton is almost unrecognizable as writer Amy Schumer’s demanding editor in this raunchy comedy that made Schumer a bankable film star. Filmed at first in medium shots with long flowing blonde hair, the character doesn’t look at all like anything Swinton has done before, but you can’t mistake that voice. She’s not likely to win any awards for this one, the part’s too small, but she’s a welcome addition to a cast that includes Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson and
Ezra Miller who played her son in We Have to Talk About Kevin.